184 WITH NATURE AND A CAMERA. 



always the. case, as some years ago I met with one 

 the builder of which had thickly studded its outer 

 walls with bits of an old newspaper, in such a 

 situation that the journalistic decorations really 

 increased rather than lessened its chances of dis- 

 covery. 



That individuals of a certain species begin to 

 nest almost simultaneously in a given district I 

 proved last spring, by finding thirteen Chaffinches' 

 nests in various stages of construction on the 24th 

 and 25th of April. On the other hand, some early 

 pairs of Starlings had young ones hatched out 

 before the last few dozen members of their winter 

 flocks had fairly broken up. 



Odd as it may seem at first sight, birds occa- 

 sionally lose their lives by remarkable accidents 

 which happen to them whilst engaged in the build- 

 ing of their nests. During a ramble one evening 

 last spring, I came upon a female Chaffinch sus- 

 pended by a strong horse hair within two or three 

 feet of her almost completed nest. A hard baked 

 worm- casting had cemented itself to one end of 

 the hair, which had in consequence become twisted 

 round a twig, and the opposite end so entangled 

 about the unfortunate bird's neck as to form a 

 running noose, and strangle it by its own efforts to 

 escape. It was a most pathetic picture, and as my 

 brother made a photograph of it, the poor bird's 

 mate kept on calling for her and flying round in 

 the most evident distress. 



A Common Wren will build the outside of its nest 

 of old hay straws when placing it in the side of a 

 rick as shown in our illustration on page 187, which 

 my brother was lucky enough to secure just as the 

 owner was about to enter of green moss when 

 situated in a mossy bank, and of dead leaves when 



