198 



INTKODUCTOEY CHAPTEE. 



The Kinglet, or Wren (Fig. 72), builds its nest under a bank, gene- 

 rally near some brook ; it is neatly formed of moss, nearly covered 

 with, leaves, and lined with small feathers, hair, and wool. In this 

 nest the smallest of our native birds lays six delicate little white 

 eggs, marked with small pink spots. The Humming-birds (Fig. 

 73), which flit about in tropical woods, build their nests of grass, 

 lined with feathers. The House Sparrow (Fig. 74) builds its nest 

 under the eave of some house ; while the Hedge Sparrow (Fig. 

 74) chooses the fork of a hawthorn- tree in which to construct its 

 children's home. The Magpie, more ambitious, constructs, in the 

 topmost fork of some tall ash, or poplar, or elm, its nest of branches 

 interlaced with twigs, and lined with fine grass, hair, and other 

 soft materials (Fig. 75). It is a large and consequently a con- 

 spicuous fabric, elliptical in form, composed first of rough boughs, 

 on which is laid a quantity of mud, and then a layer of twigs, the 

 whole lined with fibrous roots and other soft material. The Gold- 



\ \ 



Fig. 77. 



finch builds its nest on trees ; it is composed of grass, moss, and 

 lichens, and lined with the down of various plants and such other 

 soft material as comes in its way, elaborately interwoven with 

 wool and hair (Fig. 76). 



The Owl, Strix Jiammea, chooses her nest in some obscure nook 

 of an old tower, the steeple of a church, a dovecot, or the hollow 

 of an aged tree (Fig. 77). It is composed of twigs and straws 

 loosely arranged. 



Some birds form into a sort of coarse tissue the fibres of which 



