52 WILD NATURE IN STRATHEARN. 



hollow. It is made of grasses, with sometimes 

 a few leaves intermingled, the coarser grasses 

 being outside, and the finer forming the inner part. 



" The daisied lea he loves, where tufts of grass 

 Luxuriant crown the ridge ; there, with his mate, 

 He founds their lowly house of withered bents 

 And coarsest speargrass ; next the inner work 

 With finer and still finer fibre lays, 

 Rounding it curious with his speckled breast." 



Herons like Rooks are gregarious in their 

 nesting, constructing their nests, which are very 

 large, of sticks, and placing them on the top 

 of high trees. The Wood Pigeon's nest is a 

 collection of sticks, without any lining. The 

 Robin and Yellow Hammer's nest may often 

 be found on a grassy bank, or by a ditch side, 

 sometimes on a low bush. The outside is com- 

 posed of dried grass, leaves, and moss, and 

 lined with wool and hair. 



Perhaps the most interesting of all nests is 

 that of the Chaffinch. Placed in the fork of 

 a tree, the outside ingeniously covered with 

 the moss and lichen off the tree, it is most 



