AMONG THE BIRDS IN SPRING. 19 



and scraps of bark are used to assimilate the 

 colour of the nest with surrounding objects, with 

 a view to its concealment. The Blackbird's nest 

 by the sides of the stream, or the Missel-thrush's 

 high up in the forest trees, are also charming 

 objects to be met with during a spring ramble 

 through the woods and fields. Nor must we 

 forget to give the Song Thrush a call as we So n R 

 pass her nest in the evergreens. Approach with be g ?n s to s 



, .,, , , i . , . . build, I2th 



caution, and you will see the mother bird sitting March; 



. , ' TIT eggs> 20th - 



quietly on her eggs, her head peeping over one 



side of the nest, her tail over the other, and, as 

 likely as not, her bill wide open. Perhaps she slips 

 quietly off, or flutters away with harsh tumultuous 

 cries, leaving her blue, warm eggs lying so tempt- 

 ingly in their hard cup, which is almost as smooth 

 and round as if it had been turned on the potter's 

 wheel. 



On the banks of the stream, where the water 

 leaps from rock to rock in mad career and whirls 

 round the stones and by the deep banks, we 

 may chance to meet with the domed nest of the 

 Dipper, snugly placed among the overhanging Dippers 

 roots. It is a strange and beautiful structure, A U pHi ms> 7th 

 made almost entirely of moss, which the spray 

 keeps moist and green, and lined with dry grass 

 and layers of dead leaves. The eggs are pure 

 white, and four or five in number. The charming 

 Gray Wagtail is another bird of these northern 

 trout-streams, and regularly resorts to them in 

 spring for the purpose of rearing its young. The 



c 2 



