210 BIRDS' NESTS, 



instinct in preventing their nest from being 

 discovered. " Some years ago, when walking 

 with a friend, I remember seeing two of these 

 birds in an osier bed, the male perched erect at 

 the summit of a willow stem, and his mate 

 remaining beneath, only occasionally coining 

 within view. On our entering the osiers, they 

 both flew round us in great alarm, mostly in 

 silence, but sometimes uttering a low, mourn- 

 ful kind of note, at the same time darting 

 suddenly about the hedge and willow stems, 

 as if impatient for our immediate departure ; 

 and their manners were so different from those 

 commonly observed in the species, that we 

 were convinced that there must be a nest 

 thereabouts. I was well aware of the diffi- 

 culty of finding its little tenement in a situa- 

 tion of that kind, and accordingly we both of 

 us began to move in different directions, in 

 order to discover, by the actions of the birds, 

 where their treasure lay. My friend traversed 

 one side of the osier bed, and myself the 



