154 THE HEDGE SPARROW. 



always to live in pairs, feeding arid moving in com- 

 pany with each other. It is* nearly the first bird 

 that forms a nest ; and this being placed in an 

 almost leafless hedge, with little art displayed in its 

 concealment, generally becomes the booty of every 

 prying boy ; and the blue eggs of the hedge sparrow 

 are always found in such numbers on his string, 

 that it is surprising how any of the race are re- 

 maining, especially when we consider the many 

 casualties, to which the old birds are obnoxious 

 from their tameness, and the young that are hatched, 

 from their situation. The plumage of this motacilla 

 is remarkably sober and grave, and all its actions 

 are quiet and comformable to its appearance. Its 

 song is short, sweet, and gentle. Sometimes it is 

 prolonged ; but generally the bird perches on the 

 summit of some bush, utters its brief modulation, 

 and seeks retirement again. Its chief habitation is 

 some hedge in the rick-yard, some cottage garden, 

 or near society with man. Unobtrusive, it does 

 not enter our dwellings like the redbreast, but picks 

 minute insects from the edges of drains and ditches, 

 or morsels from the door of the poorest dwelling in 

 the village. As an example of a household or 

 domestic bird, none can be found with better pre- 

 tensions to such a character than the hedge sparrow. 

 I always hear with delight the earliest chirpings 

 of that pretty harbinger of spring, the willow wren 

 (motacilla trochilus), trilling its wild and gleeful " chiif 



