392 THE 



rose-coloured, and the tip, which is white. The iris is purple ; 

 the feet ten lines high, and a yellowish flesh-colour. The head 

 is small, and, as well as the neck, dark grey, spotted with dark 

 brown ; the back light rust- colour, spotted with blackish brown, 

 like the back of the House Sparrow. The rump is pale grey ; 

 the cheeks, throat, and breast bluish grey ; the belly and vent 

 dingy white; the sides and shanks yellowish brown. The 

 wings are dark brown, edged with rust- colour ; and the feathers 

 of the larger coverts are tipped with white. The tail is dark 

 brown, bordered with a lighter shade of the same colour. 



The female is more greyish blue on the breast, and more 

 thickly spotted with brown on the head. 



Habitat. The Dunnock inhabits the whole of Europe, and 

 frequents gardens, or more especially dense woods of coniferous 

 or other trees. It is a bird of passage, though some individuals 

 which have come from the extreme north occasionally winter 

 with us, hopping about the hedges, and, like the Wren, flying 

 near barns and stables. Those which have migrated re- 

 turn towards the end of March, and may be seen for some time 

 about the hedges in the open country, before betaking them- 

 selves to the woods. It may either be allowed to range the 

 aviary, perching at night on a pine branch, or in a corner sepa- 

 rated from the room by a grating, or may be confined in a 

 Nightingale's or Canary's cage. 



Food. The Dunnock feeds not only on all sorts of insects 

 and worms, but also on various kinds of seeds, which is one 

 reason why it is often able to survive the winter. In spring it 

 looks for flies, larvaB, caterpillars, and earth worms ; in summer 

 it lives principally on caterpillars ; in autumn it feeds on grass, 

 rape, and poppy seeds, as well as elderberries ; and in winter, 

 when there is no snow on the ground, it collects the seeds of 

 different plants, and, when these fail, searches the holes and 

 crannies of walls and trees for spiders, insects, or caterpillars. 



In the aviary it will eat whatever comes to table meat, 

 vegetables, bread, and cake, as well as rape and poppy seed. 

 It is also fond of the universal paste, which it will eat even 

 immediately after it has been caught. 



Breeding. The nest of the Dunnock, which is built of clean 

 lichen, sometimes interwoven with small roots of twigs, and 

 lined with hair or fur, generally stands in a young fir tree, 01 

 thick bush, about two yards from the ground. The femala 



