BIRD-LIFE IN FIELD AND HEDGEROW. 141 



a large nursery near Paignton. The Wren, too, 

 is a common hedgerow bird, these places being 

 exceptionally favourable for it, being so full of old 

 stumps, ivy, nooks, and crannies. A favourite 

 nesting place of this bird in Devonshire is in the 

 roof of the "linhays," or roughly made cattle- 

 sheds in the corners of the fields ; another, equally 

 preferred, is under some overhanging bank below 

 the hedge. The Wren carols blithely the livelong 

 year, save in the moulting season. In this part of 

 Devonshire it is known almost universally as the 

 "Cutty." Of the Finch tribe, one of the most 

 familiar in the hedges and the fields is the 

 sprightly Chaffinch. Large flocks of this species 

 are common on the fields and adjoining hedge- 

 rows during winter, many birds leaving the higher 

 central districts entirely and retiring to the low- 

 lands at this season. Sometimes a few Bramb- 

 lings may be noticed in their company, but this 

 Finch is by no means a common or a regular 

 visitor to the county at least this is our experi- 

 ence. In earlier years, during a long residence in 

 Yorkshire, the Brambling was one of the most 

 regular of our winter migrants, and invariably 

 returned to old accustomed haunts season by 



