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rook's nest. It is constructed chiefly of moss, and is thickly lined 

 with hair and feathers. The eggs are from six to ten in number, 

 and are white, closely covered with small spots of palish red 



Whitethroat The Whitethroat is a summer migrant, reaching 

 Britain in April, is extremely numerous and very widely distributed, 

 and rejoices in a bewildering variety of local names, such as " Chairlie 

 Gabbie," " Whisky Tarn," " Nettle Creeper," etc. The song of the 

 Whitethroat consists of a medley, and gives the hearer the im- 

 pression that the bird is very fussy, and it is uttered in a hurried 

 querulous twittering fashion, almost as though in anger. It is 

 while uttering its song that the distinctive feature to which it owes 

 its name becomes most visible, its head being raised and the pale 

 coloured feathers of the throat distended. The Whitethroat is 

 about five and a halt inches long, is greyish brown above, the head 

 ashy grey, while the under surface ot the body is white with the 

 breast faintly washed with vinous colour. This species is insec- 

 tivorous in habit, and is especially fond of the " Daddy Long Legs," 

 but in the autumn months feeds on currants and berries. Favourite 

 haunts of the Whitethroat are the tangled patches of brambles 

 on the margins ot the woodland, old country lanes, and over 

 grown hedgerowSi where, in the tangled half open growth of 

 bramble and briar, its deep but slender nest may by careful search 

 be discovered. It is built of dry grass, and lined with horse hair, 

 is frequently placed amid the brambles, sometimes amidst nettle 

 stems, and contains four to six eggs, greenish yellow in ground colour, 

 thickly spotted with faint marks of violet grey. 



Wren The Common Wren or Jenny Wren, is too familiar to 

 require much description. It is a resident in Britain, and widely 

 distributed, being found even in the smallest of the many islands of 

 the Hebrides, Orkneys and Shetlands, though in Shetland and St. 

 Kilda the species has developed a slightly larger size than on the 

 mainland ; in fact, the St. Kilda Wren has been elevated on this 

 account to a specific rank of its own. This bird is somewhat of a 

 hideling in its habits, taking refuge from an observer by hiding 

 rather than by taking to flight, an easy object to attain in the case 

 of so tiny a morsel, while its dull brown plumage further tends 

 towards its concealment. The Wren is insectivorous. The song of 

 this bird is extraordinarily loud for its size, and is penetrating and 

 sweet in tone. The nest is to be found in a variety of situations. It 

 is a large structure in relation to the size of its builder, domed in 

 shape, with a tiny entrance in the side. It is usually built of moss, 

 but as a rule is constructed of such materials as will assimilate with 

 its environment. Thus when built, as is often the case, in the 

 crevice of a moss grown wall, it will be constructed of green moss 

 and when in a dead clump of bracken^ it will be built of dead leaves. 

 A peculiar habit of the Wren is, that it builds a number of nests, out 

 of which only one will be completed by being lined, which is done 

 in a very cosy fashion with feathers. The unfinished nests are care- 

 fully built, and though unlined, still must entail considerable labour 

 on their architects. They are known as cock nests, and have been 

 supposed to be built as roosting places, but this is not at all likely, 

 the more probable explanation being that they are erected to draw 

 attention from the real nest containing the eggs. These are pure 

 white, spotted and dotted with reddish brown, and are usually six in 

 number. It is frequently stated that the Wren lays ten, twelve, or 

 even a larger number of eggs, but out of a very large number of 

 nests examined by the writer, in no instance has one been found to 

 contain more than seven eggs. 



