io RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



near a running stream, amongst the brightest moss, 

 composed of similar materials ; the dampness of the 

 situation keeping them in all their verdant beauty, and 

 thus concealing the nest of the bird, whose protective 

 instinct lies in utilising them for her purpose. The 

 beautiful nest of the Long-tailed Titmouse is again an 

 instance of this protective instinct, and so is that of the 

 Wren. The Robin also finds safety under its banner, 

 and the delicately formed Gold-crest assimilates her 

 nest to surrounding circumstances by weaving the 

 branches of the fir amongst moss of the same colour, 

 the whole appearing to a careless eye nothing but a 

 mass of foliage. And then how beautifully do the 

 sombre greens of the little Dunnock's nest contrast with 

 the colours of the vernal year around. In all these 

 cases how artfully and well the little architects use to 

 the best advantage those materials which their unerring 

 instinct leads them to make use of for the welfare of 

 their young. 



Silence. Perhaps many persons will scarcely com- 

 prehend this peculiar form of instinct, yet such a form 

 does undoubtedly exist, and that too in many of our 

 commonest birds. Take, for instance, the little Willow- 

 Warbler, and note carefully how she leaves her tem- 

 porary home. Her nest being often ill concealed, 

 silence is her forte and well does she practise it. 

 Observe the garrulous little Whitethroat leave her nest, 

 so silently threading her way from her treasure so 

 silently as to be seldom heard ; and then, when at a 

 safe distance from the neighbourhood of her abode, 

 how joyously she gives forth notes of seeming defiance 

 and alarm. How often does the silent protective 

 instinct of the Dartford Warbler manifest itself, the 

 bird when scared from its nest leaving it silently, and 



