THE HEDGE ACCENTOR 



will content this homely, unobtrusive little bird, and its 

 jerky yet sweet if somewhat short song is almost perennial. 

 The male continues in voice right through the year, the 

 moulting season excepted, and even in the severest 

 weather his cheery song may be heard in sheltered spots. 

 The bird rears several broods in the course of the season, 

 preparations often being made for the first, in a mild, 

 open year, as early as February. In the London area its 

 favourite nesting-place appears to be a thick hedge or an 

 evergreen bush, but it will build in a vast variety of spots, 

 and often contents itself with a heap of hedge-clippings 

 or pea-sticks in a quiet corner of the garden. The nest is 

 a substantial one, cup-shaped, and formed externally of 

 moss, dry grass and leaves, and a few slender twigs, 

 warmly lined with hair, wool, and feathers. The five or 

 six eggs are dark turquoise-blue. The habits of this 

 species are somewhat retiring ; the bird obtains most of 

 its food on the ground, where it shuffles along picking up 

 minute trifles here and there, slipping off into the bushes 

 if alarmed, and spending most of its time in the conceal- 

 ment of its cover. In severe weather it comes with the 

 Sparrows to our houses, and is one of the most trustful 

 of our feathered visitors. Its food chiefly consists of 

 insects, larvae, small worms, and a variety of tiny seeds. 

 The call-note of this species is a low and plaintive weet. 

 It is for the most part solitary, but in the pairing season 

 it shows more gregarious tendencies, often congregating 

 early in January in small parties. In the country districts 

 this species is often selected by the Cuckoo to act as foster- 

 parent. 



The Hedge Accentor is one of our plainest birds, 

 although there is a chaste beauty in its sombre dress. * The 

 adult has the head and nape slate-grey streaked with 

 brown, the remainder of the upper parts reddish brown 

 streaked with dark brown, except the upper tail-coverts, 

 which have an olive tinge ; the throat and breast are 



59 



