Birds by Land and Sea 



growing brood ; by others to be tentative structures 

 ere the real nest is built. All these nests are globe- 

 shaped, with a small round opening at the side, and 

 may be formed of grass, moss, or dead leaves. What- 

 ever be the theory concerning the " cocks' nests," they 

 are never lined ; only the principal one being lined, 

 usually with moss, hair, and feathers. The nest is 

 placed in a great variety of situations, advantage 

 being taken of any natural hollow. The birds show 

 no more than ordinary adroitness in concealing their 

 nests, and the habit attributed to them of assimilating 

 the latter to the character of the surroundings probably 

 rests upon the fact that they are formed of what 

 comes handiest on the building site, it being evident 

 that what is taken from the surroundings is likely 

 to harmonize with them. The nest shown in the 

 photograph was situated in a low thorn hedge 

 enclosing a small wood at Agden. The branches 

 had been interlaced horizontally, and the nest was 

 tightly packed in a triangle formed by some of them 

 a beautiful structure of dead hawthorn leaves, 

 lined with hair and a few feathers, the entrance being 

 centred in the triangle. 



Although the wren builds a large nest for the 

 size of the bird, it proves none too large in the 

 event ; for a brood consists of from four to nine 

 young ones, and two broods are hatched in a season. 



The cock has a brilliant, if stereotyped, song, 

 consisting of a thrice-repeated, high-pitched note, 

 followed by a resonant trill, into which, just before 



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