160 
A DIARY OF ORNITHOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 
IN BRITTANY. . 
EDMUND SELOUS. 
(Continued from page 141). 
JuLy 8TH.—Some mornings ago I saw a pair of these birds 
about a certain briar-bush bordering the osier-bed that runs 
through a part of this valley, making the stream more a sop. 
This morning I saw one of them (as I suppose) fly from the 
same bush again, and, examining it, found indeed a nest of the 
right type, but an old one. This a curious thing. The situ- 
ation of the nest—horribly guarded by the stems of brambles, 
between which it is wedged—is exactly in accordance with the 
entry of the bird into the bush, which is that in and about which 
a pair have been observed by me. If, therefore, this old nest 
is not theirs, it is a curious coincidence ; but if it is, what is 
the meaning of their coming to it? Do they intend to lay 
in it again, having perhaps repaired it ?—or to make another 
near by? It was certainly these birds and no others, for, 
on going to the bush, I heard their alarm, or irate note, in the 
neighbourhood. 
Jury gtH.—Have again this morning seen the two birds 
in the close neighbourhood of the old nest, but more about the 
bush next to the one it is in. It is the same this evening— 
from 6-35—and there can, I think, be no doubt, either that 
they have built or are building or intending to build there. 
I do not think it is the first, as I have not been able to make 
out any carrying of food, and the movements seem different, 
the two birds sometimes chasing each other. The second it 
may be, for one of them this morning came out upon the grass, 
and I judged—for I could not get the glasses on it in time to 
make sure—that it was pulling at a piece of it. This was 
probably the female. I looked for her to come down again 
in what seemed so favourable a spot, but she did not, nor had 
I before been able to put this interpretation on either of the 
bird’s actions. If, however, the material for the nest is being 
collected mostly within the osier thicket, it would be impossible 
to see the birds. It is true that some days ago I saw a bird of 
this species with a moth in its bill (suggesting nursery cares), 
but this was in another part of the labyrinth, and I think it was 
another individual. Having long watched the little corner of 
bush, as it were, round which these two disappeared, into it, 
as it seemed to me, I at length examined it, but could find 
nothing. I have also made a sort of bower amongst the osiers, 
quite near where the nest, in my opinion, should be, and put 
down a bundle of bracken to sit on, the ground being not quite 
terra firma. 
Naturalist, 
