THE NESTS OF DIFFERENT BIRDS. 175 



the chaffinch, just above it in the elm, hides its 

 nest with cautious care, and moulds it with the ut- 

 most attention to order, neatness, and form. One 

 bird must have a hole in the ground ; to another 

 a crevice in a wall, or a chink in a tree, is indis- 

 pensable. The bull-finch requires fine roots for 

 its nest ; the gray flycatcher will have cobwebs for 

 the outworks of its shed. All the parus tribe, 

 except the individual abovementioned, select some 

 hollow in a tree or cranny in a wall, and, sheltered 

 as such places must be, yet will they collect abun- 

 dance of feathers and warm materials for their 

 infants' beds. Endless examples might be found 

 of the dissimilarity of requirements in these con- 

 structions among the several associates of our 

 groves, our hedges, and our houses ; and yet the 

 supposition cannot be entertained for a moment 

 that they are superfluous, or not essential for some 

 purpose with which we are unacquainted*. By 



* I remember no bird that seems to suffer so frequently from 

 the peculiar construction of its nest, and by reason of our common 

 observance of its sufferings obtains more of our pity, than the house 

 martin. The rooks will at times have its nest torn from its airy 

 site, or have its eggs shaken from it by the gales of spring ; but 

 the poor martin, which places its earthy shed beneath the eave of 

 the barn, the roof of the house, or in the corner of the window, is 

 more generally injured. July and August are the months in which 

 these birds usually bring out their young ; but one rainy day at 

 this period, attended with wind, will often moisten the earth that 

 composes the [nest, the cement then fails, and all the unfledged 

 young ones are dashed upon the ground ; and there are some 

 places to which these poor birds are unfortunately partial, though 



