222 



THE HEDGE ACCENTOR. 



ACCENTORS. 



One or two examples of the jiretty, thoiigli sober-plumaged, Accentors, are to be found 

 in Europe, that which is best known being the Hedge Accentor, or Hedge Sparrow, as it is 

 often, though wrongly, called, as it by no means belongs to the same group of birds. 



The Hedge Accentor is very common through the whole of Europe, and may be heard in 

 the gardens, copses, and hedge-rows, chanting its pleasing and plaintive melody without dis- 

 playing much fear of its auditors. It seems, indeed, to be actually attracted to man, and, in 

 spite of the terrible havoc which is made year after year by young bird-nesters among its 



mSDGE SPARROW and ALPINE ACCENTOB.— .loKftfe/r modularis and alplnua. 



homes, it always draws near to human habitations as soon as the cold days of autumn com- 

 mence, and may be seen Hitting about the barns and outhouses in a perfectly unconcerned 

 manner. 



It is especially adapted for living among the hedges, as it possesses a singular facility 

 in threading its way through the twigs, stems, and branches. It seems eqiially at home in 

 dried brushwood, and may often be seen ti-aversing the interior of a woodpile with perfect 

 ease. The nest is one of the earliest to be built, and as it is frequently completed and the eggs 

 laid before the genial warmth of spring has induced the green leaves to burst their inclosures, 

 it is easily seen, and is the first victim of the neophyte bird-nester, who pounces upon its soft 

 mossy walls and delicate blue eggs with exulting eagerness. The more experienced nester, 

 however, will never touch so easy a prey, caring nothing for eggs which the veriest novice can 

 discover. 



The nest is generally placed at a very low elevation, seldom more than two or three feet 

 from the ground, and it is rathei' hirge in proportion to the size of the bird. The materials of 

 wliich the structure is made are various mosses, wool, and hair, and the eggs are usually five 

 in number, of a bright bluish-green color. Sometimes, but very rarely, six eggs are found in 

 a single nest. Bird-nesting boys are not the only foes with whom the Hedge Sparrow has to 

 contend, for the cuckoo proiits by the exposed position of the nest, and lays her eggs in the 

 home of the Hedge Sparrow more often than in that of any other bird. There are generally 



