CONCLUSION. 333 



At all these birds we have now taken a peep. 

 We have found them in their proper haunts, 

 examined their skill as architects, and their 

 powers as musicians. We have inquired into 

 the nature of their food, the number and colour 

 of their eggs, and their mode of rearing their 

 young ; any peculiar adaptation of structure to 

 habits or curious mode of living has been duly 

 noted ; and, not content with studying them at 

 home, we have followed these delicate visitors 

 to foreign climes, and found them in their 

 winter quarters. 



It is hoped that the reader ere he closes this 

 volume will have gleaned some little informa- 

 tion that may be new to him concerning these 

 most interesting families of small birds, whose 

 fairy forms in summer time flit so continually 

 before us, and whose presence or absence makes 

 so great a difference to the naturalist in his en- 

 joyment of a country walk. 



