68 OUR NATIVE SONGSTERS. 



its song is sweet, is at least not remarkable for its 

 beauty of colour, being clothed in a homely suit 

 of reddish brown, streaked with a darker tint. 

 It is known in many counties by the names of 

 Hedge Chanter, and Dunnoch, and is also called 

 Shufflewing, from its habit of shaking its wings 

 perpetually. It is veiy active in all its move- 

 ments, hopping quickly about our gardens ; in 

 spring and autumn, making its meal on the in- 

 sects, worms, and slugs which it finds there, but 

 never offending the gardener by robbing him of 

 his fruit. But when the frost and snows have 

 killed the insects, and all the flower-seeds have 

 been scattered by the wind, our little warbler 

 comes to claim the kindness of man, and surely 

 as well deserves a crumb from our table, as does 

 the equally social and less timid robin. Then, 

 too, the hedge sparrow, accompanied by its mate, 

 finds its way into tlie rick-yard, and hovers about 

 the lofts and granaries, where the corn is stored, 

 and picks up the scattered grain, till warmer 

 beams shall reawaken the insect world, and the 

 little benumbed creatures which lie hidden under 

 the gi-ecn mosses shall agc\in serve him for food 

 more to his taste. 



