HOW TO OBSERVE THEM 177 



feed the birds during the hard weather, and many 

 species visit us daily in search of food. As regular 

 as clockwork, the Blue and Great Tits visit the 

 cocoa-nut husks suspended by copper wire and 

 filled with tasty and fattening suet. Very regular, 

 too, have the chattering Starlings been during the 

 past Winter, whilst occasionally a speckled Thrush 

 and a sooty Blackbird, a sprightly Chaffinch and 

 elegant little Hedge Sparrow, have joined the 

 feathered throng. The House Sparrows, like the 

 poor, are with us practically all the year round. 



It may be, then, that our having befriended 

 the birds during the hard weather has resulted in 

 us being amply compensated for our trouble by 

 this particular pair of Robins locating the summer 

 house during the Winter and thinking it a suitable 

 position in which to rear their spotted chicks. I 

 had flushed the Robins from the precincts of the 

 summer house during the Winter on more than 

 one occasion; therefore, I was not greatly sur- 

 prised to find their substantial nest as early as 

 March 10. Owing to the situation chosen, it was 

 necessary that the structure should be substan- 

 tially built, and a cleverly constructed foundation 

 was laid of coarse grass, straw, leaves, and other 

 garden rubbish. At a casual glance, the cup-like 

 interior was hardly discernible, the brim of the 

 nest was so high, but on a closer inspection the 

 deep recess for the reception of the freckled eggs 



