WARBLERS. 503 



(A. collaris] inhabits the Pyrenees and Alps, occasionally wandering far from 

 its usual haunts, and reaching the British Islands and Heligoland. It begins to 

 build in May ; the nest is round, somewhat shallow, fairly compact, and composed 

 mainly of dry grass stems and very small pieces of moss, the inside being lined 

 entirely with the same kind of moss and the small white feathers of the ptarmigan. 

 The eggs are light greenish blue and unspotted. The adult male has the head and 

 neck grey; the upper-parts are dark brown with light brown edges; the wing- 



Hedge-Sparrow. 



HEDGE-SPARROW AND ALPINE ACCENTOR (| liat. size). 



coverts tipped with white ; the throat white spotted with black ; and the breast and 

 under tail-coverts dark grey, shading into rich chestnut upon the flanks. 



Although generally nesting in the vicinity of dwelling-houses, 

 the hedge-sparrow (A. modidaris), which is very widely distributed 

 in Europe, may be found in Spain living far away in the depths of the forest. Its 

 cheery song is often uttered from the top of a small shrub or spray of hawthorn ; 

 and, as it is an early breeder, its eggs are often laid before the leaves of the hedges 

 have sufficiently expanded to save them from being chilled by heavy showers of 

 rain. The nest, built of fine roots and moss, is placed in the shelter of a hedge on 

 a bank, under a hawthorn bush, or in the side of an ivied wall, and generally 

 contains four or five blue unspotted eggs. The young when first hatched 

 are invested with black down, but they feather rapidly. In the Hebrides, the 

 hedge-sparrow nests in the sides of burns, adapting its existence to a moorland 

 life. During the winter -time, this bird obtains most of its subsistence in 

 gardens, and may often be seen stealing in and out among the growing plants like 



