148 



THE NATURE BOOK 



most beautiful of our birds at a distance, 

 \vhen its rosy pink breast, black fore- 

 head, blue grey crown and nape with 

 3-ellow green back, and two white wing- 

 bars, cannot be seen. It has been said 



A COCK SPARROW. 



that the Wagtail is the smallest bird 

 that walks — for most small birds hop — 

 but if carefully watched, the Chaffinch 

 will also be noticed to use the apparently 

 more comfortable mode of progression. 

 With the exception of the Scotch fir, 

 evergreens are seldom selected as a 

 site for what may be considered the most 

 beautiful of British bird-nests ; indeed, 

 only those of the Golden Crested Wren, 

 Long-tailed Tit, and perhaps the Lesser 

 Redpole. can compare with it. 



In winter dress, with colours more 

 subdued, the Chaffinch might be con- 

 founded with the Brambling, a northern 

 migrant which sometimes comes South in 

 numbers during the winter months, con- 

 sorts with Chaffinches in the fields and 

 woods by day, and roosts with them in 

 the shrubberies at night. The Brambling. 

 however, is a slightly larger bird, and 

 shows no pink or green shade in his 

 feathering, the prevaihng hues of which 

 are black and brown and tawny yellow, 

 with a conspicuous white rump when in 

 flight. In the dead season beech mast is 

 as attractive to both these birds as acorns 

 are to Wood Pigeon and Wild Duck. 



The smaller and more shy and (kli- 

 cately shajx-d Tree Sparrow is nowhere 

 nearly so abundant as the cheeky and 

 maligned House Sparrow, but from its 

 similarity to the latter, it is, perhaps. 



frequently overlooked. It seems to be 

 extending its range, and is most likely to 

 be met with in \nnter when its ranks here 

 are recruited by migrants from abroad. 

 It is to be distinguished from its more 

 persistent relative by the fact that both 

 sexes are similar in plumage ; the head 

 of each is chestnut brown, there are two 

 white wing-bars instead of one, and there 

 is a conspicuous patch of black on the side 

 of the cheek, surrounded by white feathers, 

 the latter almost encirchng the neck. 

 Scarcely any nesting site comes amiss to 

 the House Sparrow ; it builds Iwth a 

 clumsy, indepenclent nest in the branches 

 of tall trees, or upon those trained on a 

 wall ; in holes of trees ; or walls, or thatch, 

 under tiles, in gutter-pipes, in House 

 Martins' nests ; under those of the Rook, 

 and even amidst a colony of Sand Martins. 

 The Tree Sparrow, however, never utilises 

 an open site, but always selects a hole, 

 either in some 

 hollow tree — a 

 pollarded Wil- 

 low frequently 

 — in outside 

 brickwork o r 

 stonewall, or. as 

 on the house in 

 which I write, in 

 old and closely 

 clipped ivy 

 where the ac- 

 cumulated 

 growth of close- 

 ly interwoven 

 stems extend 

 some six or 

 eight inches 

 deep from the 

 wall. Ivy-clad 

 buildings of any 

 age are a great 

 attraction to 

 birds — in spring 

 for nesting, and 

 in winter for 

 roosting pur- 

 ])oses. In and 

 on the ivy-clad 



ruins of East Somerton church I have found 

 the eggs of Kestrel and Sjxirrow Hawk, 

 Barn Owl, Jackdaw, Starling, Thrush, 

 Blackbird. Flycatcher. Robin, Wagtail, 

 Cuckoo, Pigeon, Hedge Sparro\\-, Wren, 



GREENFINCH. 



