92 A YEAR WITH NATURE. 



multiplying to such an extent. Not only is the Martin under 

 the eaves conscious of protection, the Chaffinch is too, and so 

 in fact is every bird, otherwise they would not choose as their 

 nesting sites such open situations. When unmolested there is 

 always evidence forthcoming that the feathered race prefer 

 being in close proximity to man, rather than being driven 

 away into wild, desolate, and uncultivated districts. I could 

 not accurately say how many Chaffinches' nests I found, and 

 each one brought forth the remark " I never saw such a lovely 

 nest before"; but I do not ever remember seeing a badly or 

 slovenly built nest of this bird. How wonderfully, too, is the 

 nest in touch with the surroundings ! The limb of a tree is 

 covered with green moss and silver lichen, and not a great 

 distance away one observes what is apparently the same, but to 

 the cultivated eye of the Naturalist it is a nest of the Chaffinch. 



Although doubtless there are many who are already well 

 aware of the materials with which the nests of the commoner 

 birds are constructed, I have been so utterly surprised and even 

 disgusted at the ignorance of persons who have resided in the 

 country the whole of their lives, that it is my intention to give 

 a description of such nests. 



One person I was conversing with was good enough to inform 

 me that he was always under the impression that Rooks were 

 young Crows, that the female Robin was the Wren, and so on. 

 It is really surprising the ignorance of those who have every 

 facility afforded them for making observations, even if they have 

 neither eyes or ears alert to such sights and sounds. But to the 

 nest of the Chaffinch : it is composed externally of moss, fine 

 wool, lichen, the scales of bark, and often spiders' webs, all neatly 

 felted together; presenting a smooth and carefully-finished 

 exterior; internally it is delicately lined with wool and hairs. It 

 is very securely attached to the supporting stems by bands of 

 moss, felted with wool, which are twisted round them and worked 

 into the mass of materials composing the nest. The situations 

 generally chosen by the Chaffinch for a nesting site are the Elm, 

 Oak, Hawthorn, Bramble and thick tall bushes. I have also found 

 the nest in a thick Holly, and also on an old Apple tree overgrown 

 with moss and lichens; sometimes it is shrouded among the 

 luxuriant Ivy encircling the trunks of Elms or other trees. 



