"2 IN BIRD- LAND 



containing fresh eggs as late as the first week in 

 July. The nest of this bird is often used by the 

 Cuckoo to place her eggs in, and perhaps this is 

 owing to its exposed situation. 



All the year round the birds remain in the 

 vicinity of their nest, and they will build during 

 the next year near their former haunt. They 

 usually keep in pairs, and do not, as a rule, mix 

 with other birds, although when the weather has 

 been very cold, I have seen them feeding among 

 a mixed crowd of Starlings, Sparrows, Titmice, and 

 others. Their sweet song is heard throughout the 

 winter and spring, their singing sometimes coming 

 from the interior of a thick hedge ; and owing to 

 quiet, unobtrusive habits this species is not so often 

 seen as some others which frequent the hedgerows. 

 When the young can leave the nest, the parents, 

 still feeding them, will attract them some distance 

 from their original home, and when all are able 

 to care for themselves the old birds will return to 

 their former haunts. 



I have even known instances of this bird 

 singing at intervals during a long winter night 

 Although so tame, and notwithstanding its fond- 

 ness for keeping near inhabited dwellings, the 

 Hedge-Sparrow never comes into a house like the 

 Robin will sometimes do, but will remain more 

 timidly among the bushes. 



