6



full morning sun of a May day, whilst the intense green of tile

hawthorn showed up the bird in strong relief. I felt as I saw

him, that it was a sight that few, if any, in England were enjoying

at that moment, or indeed at any other time, for I have never

before heard of these American cousins being allowed their full

liberty. Two days after this, in a very bare yew shrub, for it was

nothing more, I observed a nest commenced. Although I never

imagined that the Cardinals had already set to work, yet the

nest struck me as being built of an unusual material, and its

general appearance convinced me that no British bird with

which I was familiar was constructing it. The nest was a

very frail one, with no substantial foundation ; merely bits of

dead grass and some old pieces of rush lightly interwoven, the

whole structure being decidedly small for the size of the bird ;

in fact, a Greenfinch would seem a more suitable occupant for

it than its real owner.


The shrub stands at a corner where four paths meet, and

is therefore the most exposed position a bird could choose for

such an object. The same day that I discovered the commence¬

ment of this nest, the gardener told me that he had actually

seen the hen Virginian on it, whilst the cock bird perched

himself on the top of the shrub. Exactly a week after they had

escaped, the first egg was laid ; it was rather larger than a

Sparrow’s in size, and dirty white in colour, with large blotches

of reddish-brown, thicker at the round end than at the other.

The hen laid five eggs in as many consecutive days. To protect

such an exposed position, I tied some branches of yew all over

the bush, thereby making it difficult for passers-by to see the

bird on her nest.


Four young birds were successfully hatched, the fifth egg

being unfertile. The cock bird almost entirely ceased singing

after the young were hatched, and his state of alarm was great

if anyone passed near the nest. The eggs took exactly a

fortnight to hatch. This brood of young Virginians soon came

to grief ; a bird or a beast of some kind (it is not known what,

but Jays were the suspected culprits) made off with a couple.

The two remaining birds I tried to rear by hand, but they

seemed unable to digest the food and, to my grief, died. The old

couple at once began hunting for another nesting place and fixed

upon one quite close to the former site, but this time in a low

box bush. The nest was quickly finished and four eggs deposited

in it, strict injunctions being given to the gardeners not to

disturb it in any way ; and in order to try and guard against

robbery from mice or squirrels, I tarred the stem of the bush as



