l8o BRITISH BIRDS. 



only resembles it in the similarity of the colours 

 of its upper plumage ; in every other respect it 

 differs entirely. It remains with us the whole 

 year, and builds its nest in hedges ; it is com- 

 posed of moss and wool, and lined with hair. 

 The female generally lays four or five eggs, of a 

 uniform pale blue: the young are hatched about 

 the beginning of May. During the time of sit- 

 ting, if a, cat or other voracious animal should 

 happen to 'come near the nest, the mother endea- 

 vours to divert it from the spot by a stratagem 

 similar to that by which the Partridge misleads 

 the dog: she springs up, flutters from spot to 

 spot, and by such means allures her enemy to a 

 safe distance. In France this bird is rarely seen 

 but in winter ; it arrives generally in October, 

 and departs in the spring for more northern re- 

 gions, where it breeds. It is supposed to brave 

 the rigours of winter in Sweden, and that it 

 assumes the white plumage common in those 

 severe climates in that season. Its song is little 

 varied, but brisk and pleasant, especially in a 

 season when the other warblers are mostly silent. 

 It has already been observed that the Cuckoo 

 sometimes deposits her egg in the nest of this 

 bird. 



