94 A YEAR WITH NATURE. 



I found eggs varying in number from one to five, in one 

 instance a young fledgling and three eggs. 



The sweet twittering Hedge Sparrow seemed to be beseeching 

 us in almost poetical language not to meddle with his homestead. 

 The component parts are somewhat similar to those of the 

 last mentioned variety, with the addition of grasses and bents, 

 but, although it is by no means shabby, it is not nearly of 

 such an attractive description, and is larger. How picturesque 

 are the delicate blue eggs, as we stretch over the budding 

 hedgerow, or into the thick bushes, and gaze into the dark 

 hairy cup! 



That favourite bird of the country the Long Tailed Titmouse, 

 may be seen with the partner of its joys and sorrows clinging 

 round the branches ; hard by is its beautiful lichen and moss 

 ball for really the nest is best described as such and the pho- 

 tograph of the birds and the nest on page 93 will bear out my 

 statements. I have known a pair of these birds to use over 

 2,000 feathers in the construction of their homestead, each feather 

 representing a separate journey. My friend and brother Natura- 

 list Mr. Basil H. Davies dissected one and counted 1,779, to 

 give the exact figures. Besides moss and lichens, wool, spiders 

 webs, skeletonised leaves and bits of old newspapers are also 

 used in its construction. It is to my mind the most beautiful 

 example of bird architecture in Great Britain. 



I had the good fortune on the day mentioned to find several 

 stens of the Greater or Common Whitethroat more generally 

 known perhaps by the non-scientific observer as the Haytit 

 containing four eggs. Certain it is that this sprightly little 

 migrant had not been idle since his arrival amongst us. The 

 nest is of a simple, and yet elegant, construction ; it is small 

 and compact, consisting of dried grasses, with occasionally a 

 few hairs as a lining. One nest that I found was placed in 

 a low quick-set hedge, and not more than a few feet from it 

 I saw sitting on her nest a female Bullfinch. I watched her for 

 a time, and then she thought it best to beat a hasty retreat 

 into the coppice by the roadside. I examined the nest of 

 fibrous roots with which this bird constructs its nest entirely 

 and found four beautifully marked eggs. This was somewhat 

 early for the Bullfinch to have eggs, and strange to say, on 



