6 



which they are deposited, (as stated by M. Gloger, a German 

 naturalist,) taken as a general rule, I am by no means ready 

 to admit. On the other hand, I think I am prepared to show, 

 that such precautions would be for the most part unnecessary 

 and superfluous; and we never find nature thus wasting 

 her resources. 



By far the most numerous class of birds are those which 

 build in trees or bushes, and at an elevation from the ground; 

 and the nest (which then forms the object of search and de- 

 tection) being once discovered, further precaution to conceal 

 the eggs would be of no avail; and on this account we find 

 such an instinctive anxiety amongst the feathered race to 

 conceal and protect the homes of their future offspring. 

 I could quote a number of instances, any of which are sufii- 

 cient to excite our wonder and admiration. Who has ever 

 discovered the nest of the Common Wren, concealed and 

 buried as it is amongst the same material of which it is itself 

 constructed, without a feeling of pleasure and surprise? I 

 have frequently seen it let into the hollow of some moss-clad 

 stump, or so nicely woven into the side of a clover stack, 

 when, had it not been for the small round hole of entrance, 

 discovery would have been perfectly evaded. 



The nest of the Chaffinch is little less worthy of remark ; 

 built upon the branch of some tree clothed with lichens, it is 

 covered with the same material. I have before mentioned a 

 beautiful instance, with regard to the Chaffinch; but as it 

 illustrates so admirably that anxiety which birds evince for 

 the concealment of their nests, I will repeat it here. A Chaf- 

 finch had built its nest in my father's garden, in Newcastle ; 



