RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



a few dry leaves by the way, a somewhat varied assort- 

 ment. The nest is more open than the Chiffchaff, and 

 appears as if overturned, the eggs being laid on the side. 

 Notwithstanding the number of journeys the little builders 

 have to perform in conveying materials, the nest is ready 

 for its purpose the fourth or fifth day after its commence- 

 ment. Wary indeed are the little owners when approach- 

 ing their nest with materials. You sometimes see them 

 with a feather, for instance, and observe how they hop 

 from spray to spray, conscious of your presence, and 

 uneasy for the safety of their still unfinished nest. Keep 

 motionless and have patience, and the little creatures will 

 gain confidence and visit their nest. But do not, I pray 

 you, take the advantage of their confiding nature to 

 destroy their handiwork. See and admire it, and leave 

 it to them, for to blast the hopes of the little owners 

 would be cruel indeed. Their eggs are six or seven in 

 number, sometimes only four, of a pure and glossy white, 

 blotched and spotted with reddish-brown : some spe- 

 cimens are more faintly marked than others. Before 

 the contents of the egg are removed they possess a 

 faint and beautiful tinge of pink. Silence is the Willow 

 Warbler's general form of protective instinct, and you 

 never hear her utter a sound of any description when leav- 

 ing her nest. The Willow Warbler will care for and 

 rear the young of other species with as much care as her 

 own. I once inserted a young Whitethroat in the nest 

 of a Willow Warbler containing one young one, and the 

 parent bird attended both her own offspring and the 

 young Whitethroat with every care ; but either a weasel, 

 or that sly and prying animal the rat, destroyed both 

 the nestlings, and prevented me having the pleasure of 

 witnessing the young Whitethroat grow up to maturity 

 under such novel circumstances. Young Willow War- 



