1884 The Zoologist— October, 18G9. 



which was brought by the finder to me, A third nest was taken the 

 next day at Ollerton : it was placed inside of a cattle hovel, amongst 

 the thorns with which the npright frame-work was interlaced, and was 

 constructed of dry grass only, and lined, as were the others, with hair : 

 the second nest had moss mixed with the grass, like the first." — p. 67. 



The chaffinch builds on the top of posts when sawn off perfectly 

 smooth, and fastens its nest there with saliva. — " I have sometimes 

 been led to believe that, in addition to the weaving and felting, by 

 which the wool and moss and other materials are wrought togeth e, 

 the chaffinch uses its saliva for the purpose of increasing the firmness 

 of its work. I have seen some of their nests, which certainly appeared 

 on removal to have been attached to the branches of trees by other 

 means than the mere weaving of the materials around them. I was 

 first impressed with this idea by finding a iiest on the top of a post in 

 my own garden : the post formed part of an open fence, on either side 

 of which currant trees were placed ; it was of split oak, and the top 

 having been sawn off the surface was perfectly smooth, and nearly, 

 though not quite, level. On this platform of six inches by four, with- 

 out a splinter or projection of any kind to afford an attachment, 1 

 found in the middle of May a chaffinch's nest. It was such an ex- 

 quisitely wrought specimen that I was tempted to remove it for my 

 cabinet, and was astonished at the tenacity with which it adhered to 

 the post. The body of the nest was formed of wool, and lined with 

 reddish cow's hair and two or three feathers ; on the outside the wool 

 was incorporated with green moss, and studded all over with green 

 and white lichens similar to those on the rails of the fence : these 

 lichens were more numerous towards the base, forming a sort of lip, 

 and adhering to the surface of the post, on which there were no 

 lichens growing naturally : finding it cling so closely I used great 

 caution in its removal, and am quite convinced that its adhesion was 

 effected by means of some glutinous substance, — most probably, as I 

 have said, the saliva of the bird itself." — p. 101. 



The siskin is one of those agreeable little birds of which we only 

 get a glance now and then under very adverse circumstances ; they 

 are occasionally " caught and caged and starved to death " by the 

 London birdcatchers. One of the long cages used by these gentlemen 

 on their Sunday excursions is a sad and sorry spectacle on a Monday 

 morning. The survivors, with a restless anxiety to escape, are seen 

 trampling on the dead and dying with a heedlessness that makes one's 

 heart ache. To turn from such a scene to Mr. Sterlaud's description 



