The Bird Book 



The little proprietors choose a variety of sights, 

 showing, perhaps, a preference for gorse, yet not 

 despising holly or thorn hedges, a few feet from 

 the ground, so that detection seems inevitable, 

 and at other times they place it high in the fork of 

 some lichen-covered tree, where it harmonises well 

 with its surroundings. 



I have frequently sat for hours at a stretch 

 within a few feet of the nest, watching the tiny 

 builders at work. Their industry is remarkable, 

 yet so infinitesimal are the pieces added that I have 

 invariably failed to notice any increase after three 

 or four hours' work. Both birds go in quest of 

 material, flitting from bush to bush, sometimes 

 journeying a considerable distance, yet always 

 keeping close to each other, continually calling 

 to and answering each other with their peculiar 

 low, lover-like " churr." On returning to the 

 nest with the results of their forage, one waits 

 outside while the other enters and disposes of the 

 material, shaping the interior by turning round 

 and round, pressing its breast against the walls, 

 its presence alone indicated by an occasional heave 

 which visibly shakes the whole structure. 



The bird then hops out and turns to toilet opera- 

 tions, while its mate enters and goes through the 

 same performance, or, if the nest is still cup- 

 shaped, stretches its head over the sides and 

 arranges its material so as to heighten the 

 walls. To complete the lining the little builders 

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