GARDEN, PARK, AND SHRUBBERY. 33 



October, the Fieldfare early in November, and 

 the former returns north again by the beginning 

 of .April, the latter a week or so earlier. 



I feel confident in stating that probably in 

 every garden hedge in the country, and even in 

 suburban districts too, the little dull-plumaged 

 HEDGE ACCENTOR (Accentor modularis) may be widely 

 met with. Next to the Robin, the Hedge dl 

 Accentor is one of my most favourite birds. He 

 is the first bird of which I ever wrote a line, and 

 from childhood has always been full of interest to 

 me. His brown streaked upper plumage and 

 gray throat and breast, together with his feeble 

 and plaintive call-note of 'peep-peep, will serve to 

 distinguish him. He sings throughout the year, 

 a cheerful, glad little song, something like that of 

 the Wren, only without the concluding trill. 

 Although often enough seen in the open, on the 

 ground, the garden paths, and the walks in the 

 shrubbery, he is fond of retirement ; and it is 

 surprising how quickly he hops into the nearest 

 cover when alarmed, and threads his way up the 

 hedge, skipping from twig to twig, rarely taking 

 wing though chased repeatedly to and fro. One 

 of the greatest charms attached to the Hedge 

 Accentor is its beautiful nest. The bird is a 

 cunning worker in mosses and twigs, in hairs and 

 feathers, and its pretty little home is one of the 

 first that the gardens and shrubberies yield in 

 spring. The favourite situation for the nest is in 

 the garden hedge, or in a heap of hedge-clippings 

 thrown into the odd corner behind the potting- 

 house. It may also be met with amongst the 

 brambles and briars, or in a low thick holly-bush 

 in the shrubbery. Greenest moss and twigs, 



