OUTSIDE DECORATIONS 



the general colouring being a yellowish green. On this 

 foundation the bird applies an inlay, so to speak, of pale- 

 grey lichens and bleached scraps of moss, secured more firmly 

 by means of spider's web, and forming a sort of arabesque 

 over the whole surface. The result is a truly beautiful speci- 

 men of craftsmanship. One nest I discovered some years 

 ago in the vicinity of a farm-house had tiny scraps of 

 bright-blue paper woven into the wall ; despite the meanness 

 of the material the effect was peculiarly brilliant. 1 The 

 goldfinch pays rather less attention to the adornment of the 

 outside of its nest, making a few spiders'* webs and fragments 

 of bleached moss suffice. As the nest is often placed in the 

 fork of an apple or other fruit tree, the branches of which 

 are not uncommonly covered with patches of lichen and 

 similar vegetation, it harmonizes well with its surroundings, 

 and it may well escape notice altogether or be mistaken by the 

 inexperienced eye for a knotty outgrowth from the tree itself. 

 Both goldfinch and chaffinch are in the habit of building 

 the walls of their nest around one or more of the twigs on 

 which it is supported, thus making it very firm and secure. 



The Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra), that roving bird which is 

 seen in various parts of the country from time to time, from 

 the extreme north of Scotland on the one hand to Bourne- 

 mouth on the other, frequents those districts which are plenti- 

 fully wooded with pine and fir trees, on the branches of which 

 it may be observed hanging in all sorts of attitudes whilst it 

 extracts seeds from the cones with its powerful beak. It 

 builds its nest in these same trees, often at a great distance 

 from the ground, and always in the shelter formed by a 

 cluster of small branches. The structure is small for the 

 size of the bird, and is usually difficult to detect, as it may 

 readily be mistaken for an enlargement or angle of the 



1 J. L. 

 74 



