THE DUNNOCK, OR HEDGE SPARROW. 229 



co\t*ed -all seeds, it has recourse to insects hid in the cracks and crevices 

 of walls and trees. 



lu confinement it will eat anything that comes to tahle. It is fond of 

 <he universal paste, hemp, rape, and poppy-seeds, and refuses none of these 

 ihings immediately on being imprisoned, and it soon ssems as completely 

 at ease as if accustomed to confinement*. 



Breeding. — 'Dhis species lays generally twice a year ; placing its nest 

 among the thickest bushes, about five or six feet from the ground ; the 

 outside is composed of mosses, and fibres of roots, and wood, and the in- 

 side is lined with the fur of deer, hares, and the like. The eggs, five 

 or six in number, are bright bluish green. The young are no sooner 

 fledged than, like the preceding, they quit the nest. Their plumage is 

 then very different from that of their parents : the breast is spotted with 

 grey and yellow, the back with brown and black ; lastly, the nostrils and 

 angles of tlie beak are rose-coloured. They are easily reared on white 

 bread and poppy-seeds moistened with milk. As soon as they are tamed 

 these birds have a great inclination to build in the room. The male and 

 female collect all the little straws, threads, and similar materials which 

 they can find, to build a nest among the boughs with which they are sup- 

 plied for the purpose. The female lays even when solitary ; they may be 

 paired with red-breasts, and these unions succeed very well. 



Diseases — If it were generally true, that birds in a wild state are never 

 ill, this species must be excepted ; for, however strange it may appear, the 

 young are subject to the small pox ; they are attacked by it wliile in the 

 nest, or even after they can fly. I have a young bird of this kind, which, 

 at a time when this disease prevailed in my neighbourhood, took it ; he 

 recovered, however, tolerably well, but he entirely lost the tail-feathers, 

 which were never afterwards renewed. Old ones are sometimes caught or 

 killed whose feet and eyes are ulcerated, or have tumours on them ; per- 

 haps they may be only chilblains. Weavers' stoves appear to be particu- 

 larly injurious to these birds ; in two or three months their eyes swell, and 

 the feathers fall off all round them ; the beak is attacked with scurvy, which 

 spreads to the feet, then all over the body ; but they nevertheless continue 

 to live from eight to ten j-ears in these rooms. 



Mode of Taking. — This is very easy at their return in the spring. As 

 soon as they appear in the hedges, where they soon discover themselves by 

 the cry " issri," a little place near, where the earth is bare, must be found ; 

 after having placed limed twigs, and thrown among them earth or meal 

 worms for a bait, the dunnock is gently driven towards them without alarm- 

 ing him ; as soon as he perceives the worms he darts upon them and falls 

 into the snare. In the autumn they may be caught in the area and with a 

 noose; in winter in the white-throat's trap; but they resort in the greatest 

 numbers to the water trap, not so much for the sake of bathing as to seek 

 for dead insects or decayed roots. 



Attractive Qualities. — However agreeable this bird may be in the 

 room, from its good humour, agility, gaiety, and song, it does not deservo 



• It is however, by no means easily tamed, but remains fearful and distant.— 

 Tbanslatob. 



