296 MY COUNTRY WANDERINGS 



" And do any birds nest in such a tree ? " 



" Well, I do not know that they do in the Larch 

 Fir," I replied, " but underneath the pliant 

 branches of the Spruce Fir the Gold Crest often 

 suspends its beautiful little nest." 



" Are there any nests now, or are we too early 

 yet ? " put in my friend. 



" Oh, dear, no, we are not too early," I 

 answered, " for, the season being early, both Song 

 Thrushes and Robins have young, and the young 

 Rooks have now been sunning themselves on the 

 leafless branches surrounding the Rookery for 

 some few weeks." 



" How I should like to see a Song Thrush's nest 

 and eggs, with those freckled blue shells," said my 

 companion. 



" That is a wish soon gratified," said I, " for 

 the Song Thrush is a most plentiful bird — much 

 more so than the Blackbird — and here in this 

 secluded woodland one finds the early nests, 

 although the birds mostly resort to evergreens and 

 plantations during the early Spring for protec- 

 tion from the keen winds we so often experience. 

 But here in this Rhododendron you will observe 

 a nest of the Song Thrush, containing three 

 eggs." 



" I never saw a fairer sight in Nature," re- 

 sponded my friend. " How beautiful the blue 

 eggs are thrown up by the brown-lined nest, and 



