142 THE BRITISH NATURE BOOK 



traordinarily bold and impertinent ; but by spreading black thread across the 

 table, an inch or two above it, and altering its position from time to time, 

 something may be done to keep them off. 



For the seed-eaters, seed can be provided in a bottle, turned upside-down 

 upon a small tray, so that there is only the space of inch or so between 

 the mouth of the bottle and the bottom of the tray. 



As for the tits, their food consisting of fat, suet, cocoanut, etc. can 

 be suspended on strings, and this plan will keep most other birds away from 

 it. But not all, for, as the winter advances, it is astonishing to note how a 

 few of the other birds learn to flutter up to the food and snatch odd mouth- 

 fuls. I have seen robins, sparrows, and chaffinches thus making use of a 

 cocoanut. 



I find it an advantage to mix some of the birds' food into a solid mass 

 with melted fat, so that it is not easily scattered, and lasts longer. Chicken- 

 meal, powdered dog-biscuit, desiccated cocoanut, etc., mixed with any kind 

 of fat can be served thus. 



The illustrations (Plate IX.) show some of the rather uncommon nest boxes 

 which a little ingenuity helps to make. 



How to identify Nests and Eggs. 



With many of our British nests and eggs the student will have no difficulty, 

 because of some well-marked characteristics. No one, for example, would 

 mistake the Long-tailed Tit's nest or the Chaffinch's ; but in other cases the 

 site will serve as a rough guide, and then the detailed description given in the 

 text must be consulted. 



The following table (pages 141, 142) gives the approximate sites of most 

 British birds' nests, and the plates will help to distinguish some of the 

 commoner eggs, which may be at first mistaken. 



NOTE: THE CUCKOO. 



OUR knowledge of the habits of the Cuckoo has been added to, since the section on pages 112-13 

 was written, by the remarkable investigations and observations of Mr. E. P. Chance. His " Cuckoo 

 Film " picture will become famous. He shows beyond question that in many cases the female 

 cuckoo marks down all the nests of the foster-parents in her particular district ; and in most cases 

 flies to the nest, takes out one of the eggs, holding it in her beak while she lays her own in its place, 

 and then flies off to devour her booty. 



In one case, Mr. Chance actually saw both mother and daughter lay an egg in the same nest. 



Another point which he elucidates is that the mother bird pays periodic visits to the nests 

 where her young ones are being brought up. T am able to confirm this from my own observations 

 of a cuckoo in 1921, which came regularly every morning to see her nestling in a meadow-pipit's 



nest within a hundred yards of my house. 



S. N. S. 



