CHAFFINCH. 59 



nest was annually placed upon a branch overhanging a walk, 

 so low that the whole was often struck by the heads of 

 passengers. 



When built in wall fruit trees, the followed method is pur- 

 sued: A quantity of materials is deposited between the branch 

 and the wall, the end of which is laid upon a branch, and 

 this serves for a foundation. Sometimes it is placed amongst 

 the spurs, and at other times it is simply shaded by a few 

 leaves, and when finished, the lining only intervenes between 

 the sitting bird and the wall: a few days are occupied in 

 building the nest, then four or five eggs are deposited, one 

 each day. The female, like most birds, sits eleven or twelve 

 days, and in as many more the young are fledged. When 

 engaged in constructing their nest, especially when it is in 

 a wood, both birds, by their cries and gestures, seek to entice 

 an intruder from the neighbourhood, by flitting about his 

 path, and after he has removed to a distance, they again return 

 to the place. This same species of guile is practised by the 

 male while his mate is sitting, The young follow their parents 

 for some days, and are very garrulous for food. It is during 

 the period when occupied in supplying the wants of his family, 

 that the active habits of the bird are displayed to the greatest 

 advantage, and all his bodily energies are called into play.' 



With reference to the structure of the nidification of our 

 present subject, Mr. Hewitson well observes upon its extreme 

 elegance and beauty. He says, 'Few can have passed through 

 life so unobservant as not to have seen, and in seeing to have 

 admired the nest of the Chaffinch. No one whose heart is 

 touched by the beauties of nature, can have examined this 

 exquisite structure without uttering some exclamation of wonder 

 and delight, and of comparing it, like the poet, with all that 

 is most admirable in art and of man's invention. 



Amongst the tiny architects of the feathered race, there 

 are few that can compete with the Chaffinch. Its nest is 

 not only perfect in its inward arrangements, but is tastefully 

 ornamented on the outside as well, with materials such as 

 nature can alone employ. In its outward decoration some 

 individuals employ much more taste than others, but all seem 

 to think it indispensable to deck the green walls of their 

 dwellings with gems of white; and when, in the neighbourhood 

 of a town, the beautiful white lichens which are used for that 

 purpose are obscured and blackened by the smoke of our 

 chimneys, they have recourse to something else.' 



