116 TI1E SMALLER BRITISH BIRDS. 



situations close to public highways or occupied dwelling-houses. Mr. 

 Jesse discovered ono in a vine close to a window. In construction it 

 is slight, but it is well woven and compact; the common catchweed, 

 so plentiful in waste places, or dried stems of grass, and fibrous 

 roots, is usually the material of the exterior, and the lining consists 

 of fine grass, and sometimes a little hair. The eggs, four or five in 

 number, are of a greenish white colour, spotted and speckled 

 with greenish grey and brownish grey. Although the female will 

 desert the nest for very trivial causes before the eggs are laid, she 

 will rarely do so afterwards, especially when the young are hatched; 

 if any person approaches its vicinity, she utters a sharp petulant cry, 

 and flits with great rapidity from bush to bush, with the object of 

 attracting him away. Meyer mentions an instance in which one of 

 these birds effected its purpose by throwing itself down the side of a 

 bank, and then struggling and shuffling along just out of reach, until 

 it had led him a considerable distance from its nest, when it flew 

 away. The fledglings quit the nest very early, sometimes, if in any 

 way disturbed, even before they are able to fly. Three broods are 

 not unfrequently reared in a season, the first being fledged about the 

 end of May. The plumage of the young is of a uniform reddish 

 brown on the upper parts, and greyish white on the under. 



The adult male is of a slender and elegant form, but appears rather 

 stouter than it really is from its habit of swelling out its plumage. 

 It is a little over five and a half inches in length, and weighs about 

 four drachms. The upper mandible is dusky brown, the lower pale 

 yellowish brown, darker at the point, and the corners- of the mouth 

 yellowish green. The irides are hazel; the legs and toes pale brown, 

 and the claws dusky brown. The head and neck are brownish grey; 

 the back of the same colour, but paler; the tail dusky brown, with 

 a nearly white feather on each side. The wings are reddish brown, 

 edged with chesnut; the chin and throat silvery white, slightly tinged 

 with grey; the breast dull white, tinged with rose-colour on the upper 

 part, and greyish below. 



The female is somewhat smaller, of a duller colour, and without the 

 rose tint on the breast; the throat and feathers on the edges of the 

 tail are not so white. 



