72 APRIL. 



these curious, motley fabrics. The same de- 

 parture from the uniformity of material may be 

 observed in situations where the article com- 

 monly used is not to be found; otherwise, in 

 selection of materials, in the degree of inge- 

 nuity displayed in putting them together, in 

 choice of situation, every bird adheres exactly 

 to the practice of its species and ancestry, and 

 that without instruction. This is one of the 

 marvels of instinct. 



In the barn there is the owl ; and amongst 

 the old crooked trees of the orchard a great 

 variety of bird-habitations. In one hollow tree 

 the wry-neck has built: in another the ox-eye; 

 in a third the starling. The missel-thrush has 

 constructed a nest large as a man's head, of 

 hay and wool, which often hang in large wav- 

 ing locks, in the pear-tree. Its eggs, like those 

 of the water-hen, and the crake, are marked 

 with large pink spots. The wren has inserted 

 its oval nest of green moss, leaving only a small 

 side-entrance, into the roof of a shed, or into 

 the stump of an old ivied thorn ; and so sen- 

 sitive is this little creature, that if her nest 

 be only touched with a ringer, she will very sel- 

 dom enter it again. The chaffinch delights to 

 build its beautiful nest, spangled with silvery 

 lichens, and lined with soft cow-hair, in the 

 apple-tree; the goldfinch on the very topmost 



