228 THE DUNNOCK, OR HEDGE SPARROW. 



However, this bird is an excellent singer, and though his voice is not 90 

 clear and flute-like as that of the fauvette, yet by skilfully introducing his 

 call into his warble, he produces a very striking and agreeable variety. 

 This species is fed and treated like the preceding, but with still greater 

 care, for it is even more delicate. With all my care I have never been 

 able to preserve it more than two years at the utmost : the difficulty, 

 however, does not appear to proceed from the diet, for being caught in the 

 autumn it soon gets accustomed to the food of the nightingale, by first 

 giving it the berries which it selects in a state of freedom. 



THE DUNNOCK, OR HEDGE SPARROW. 



Accentor modularis, BECHSTEIN ; La Fauvette d'hiver, ou Traine Buisson, 

 BUFFON ; Die Braunelle, BECHSTEIN. 



THIS species, which in its gait resembles the wren, seems 

 also a link between its own species and that of the lark, for it 

 does not confine itself to insects ; it eats all sorts of small 

 seeds, such as those of the poppy and the grasses. Its length 

 is five inches and a quarter, two and a quarter of which belong 

 to the tail. The beak, five lines in length, is very sharp, 

 black, whitish at the tip, and the inside rose-colour; the iris 

 purple ; the legs, nine lines in height, are yellowish flesh- 

 colour ; the narrow head is, together with the neck, dark 

 ash-colour, marked with very dark brown, like that of the 

 sparrow; the breast a deep slate -colour. 



The breast of the female is lighter and bluish grey ; she has 

 also more brown spots on her head. 



HABITATION When wild it is found all over Europe, making its abode 

 in thick deep forests. It is with us a bird of passage ; but some indivi- 

 duals, which come from quite the north, remain during the winter near 

 our dwellings, searching the heaps of wood and stones, the hedges and 

 fences, and, like the wren, entering barns and stables. Those which leave 

 us return at the end of March, stop for some time in the hedges, and then 

 penetrate into the woods. 



In confinement this bird is so wakeful and gay that it may be safely left 

 at liberty in the room, having a roosting-place for the night ; it is also kept 

 in a cage. 



FOOD. When wild, the great variety of things which serve it for food 

 prevent its ever being at a loss throughout the year. It is equally fond of 

 small insects and worms and small seeds. In spring it feeds on flies, ca- 

 terpillars, grubs, and maggots, which it seeks for in the hedges, bushes, and 

 in the earth. In summer it feeds chiefly on caterpillars ; in autumn on 

 seeds of all kinds and elderberries; and in winter, when the snow has 



