208 IN BIRD-LAND 



Afterwards I searched round for some suitable 

 food to offer by way of refreshment, but though 

 I found a few insects, the bird continued to gaze 

 stolidly at me as though I was some strange 

 apparition, and refused to take anything that I 

 offered. 



The nest of the Chaffinch is one of the most 

 beautiful it is possible to see, usually being made 

 to resemble its surroundings, although this is not 

 always the case, as the photograph shows. The 

 nest pictured was built in a sallow bush in very 

 early spring, and outside was composed of white 

 lichens, which gave it the appearance of a snow- 

 ball when seen from a short distance. Not a 

 branch was disarranged before the photograph 

 was taken, so that it will be seen what a prominent 

 object it was amid its darker surroundings. 



A pair of Chaffinches showed more common- 

 place taste when they discarded the usual lichens 

 altogether, and used small pieces of newspaper 

 with which to ornament their nest ; and as this 

 was placed in the middle of a thick hawthorn 

 bush, standing in a dark corner, the white paper 

 dotted about the nest made it more attractive 

 than it would otherwise have been. The birds 

 could not have used this material to make their 

 nest harmonise with its surroundings, as the 



