106 WILD NATURE'S WAYS. 



evidently only just been caught, because it was 

 quite warm. 



The bold little twite is a bird of the heather 

 and brae side, but at the same time very partial 

 to shrubs growing in Highland gardens for nesting 

 purposes. Whilst in Scotland on one occasion, 

 a lady friend showed me a nest belonging to this 

 species in an ivy geranium trained against the 

 inside back wall of a lean-to greenhouse. The 

 parent birds were busy feeding a family of chicks, 

 and found their way in and out of the building 

 through a broken pane in the glass roof. 



I found two more nests belonging to members 

 of the species in the garden. One was in a stunted 

 gooseberry bush, and the other in a straggling 

 young honeysuckle plant tied back to the stone 

 wall surrounding the enclosure, and close by the 

 much-used doorway, giving entrance to it. This 

 latter specimen I kept under dailv observation 

 for more than a fortnight. 



On the I4th of June it contained the first 

 of six eggs, and on the igth the last. When I 

 paid my morning call on the 28th of the month, 

 the bird had three chicks ; thus the full com- 

 plement of eggs was only in the nest seven clear 

 days. 



My experiences in photographing the brooding 

 bird at home are not worthy of recital, because 

 her boldness reduced my task to the point of 



