Birds of Britain 



in the open country-side the whole year through, finding 

 there plenty of food, which consists chiefly of caterpillars 

 and other insects, even in our inhospitable winters. Early 

 in April he chooses his mate and sets up housekeeping : the 

 nest, which is loosely built of grass and moss and lined 

 with hair, is very well concealed, being placed near the 

 ground in the centre of a clump of furze or bramble. 

 There, protected by the natural chevaux de frise, the six 

 pure blue eggs are laid, and in due course the young are 

 hatched. The male does not sit, but is always to be seen 

 in the vicinity of the nest, and continually brings tit-bits to 

 his mate. Both parents tend the young with great care, 

 and after they have left the nest the family may often be 

 found wandering about together, the male on the approach 

 of danger sitting on the topmost sprays of some bush, while 

 his family remain concealed in the cover, following him 

 singly or two or three at a time as he moves on. A second 

 brood is generally reared in the season, and in autumn, after 

 the moult, a certain amount of wandering takes place, 

 generally in family parties, and at such times we may 

 frequently find them in turnip fields, or on the edge of 

 thick hedgerows, in cultivated country. These wanderings, 

 however, do not generally extend to any great distance from 

 their true home, to which, or to some neighbouring common, 

 they return to spend the winter. 



The plumage of the young is brown. The full-grown 

 female resembles the male except that the colouring is less 

 brilliant, and the white markings are not so conspicuous. 

 The male has the head, throat, and back black ; a patch 

 on either side of the neck white; tail and wings dark 



30 



