142 A YEAR WITH NATURE. 



trunk a Green or Lesser Spotted Woodpecker darts out and 

 off into the thicket. Very secure from the intruder or nest- 

 robber are the eggs and young of these birds, inasmuch as 

 without hand-saw or chisel it is practically impossible to reach 

 them. The eggs alone which in colour are of a beautiful 

 opaque, glossy white call forth our admiration. 



What a study it is to stand right underneath a Heronry 

 and watch the huge parent birds flying to and from their nest 

 trees. What a fine fellow the male bird is may best be 

 followed by an inspection of the group given. One hardly 

 credits that this large company is all one family, but such it 

 is. Notice the bird on the left hand side preening its wing- 

 feathers, and the huddled up youngsters in the flat structure 

 of sticks and twigs. 



On the low branches of the firs, above the pliant branches 

 overhanging the pathways, the Lesser and Greater White- 

 throats may be heard uttering sweet little carols, and in the 

 bushes we may find a Hedge Sparrow's nest containing the 

 egg of a Cuckoo, which will very soon hatch into a large 

 nestling. A feeling of pleasure steals over one when the 

 Cuckoo's egg is lighted upon, probably because it is not a 

 common occurrence, although my Ornithological diary reminds 

 me of a certain lucky day in Bedfordshire when I found no 

 fewer than six, all laid in the nest of the bird mentioned. 

 Occasionally two eggs are found in the same nest, but it has 

 yet to be ascertained whether they are both laid by the same 

 Cuckoo. 



The colourings of the eggs of this interesting bird vary a 

 great deal, but I have never yet come across such specimens as 

 are located in the Natural History Museum at South Kensing- 

 ton, where are exhibited, among others, three Cuckoo's eggs 

 similar in colour to those of the birds in whose nests they 

 were laid, namely, the Hedge Sparrow, Pied Flycatcher, and 

 Redstart, all of whose eggs are blue; a wonderful diversity 

 indeed, and one which requires a deal of explanation. The 

 bird has been known to place its egg in the nests of 120 or 

 more varieties. 



At the foot of a hill in the woodland glen, a silent pool is 

 found, and peeping above the surface are Rushes of various 



