BRITISH SONG-BIRDS. 73 



a clod or stone, to screen it from the cold, and al- 

 ways on the sunny side, viz, south or west. In 

 this homely hovel, — for such it may be called, 

 compared with the neat structures most of the 

 small birds make for their young, — in this lowly 

 dwelling the female deposits from four to six eggs, 

 of a green colour, inclining to pale hair-brown, 

 thickly freckled with spots of a deep hair-brown 

 towards the large end, passing iato umber-brown. 

 She sits about sixteen days, and the young may be 

 taken from nine to twelve days old. 



Treatment of the Young, 



The young ought to be taken about ten days 

 old : if allowed to remain longer, they may be lost, 

 as they are apt, (particularly in fine weather,) to 

 run from the nest. When brought home, they 

 are generally put into a clean straw or close wicker 

 basket, with a lid, in which there is a hole. The 

 basket should be constructed so as to allow the 

 birds to get plenty of fresh air ; therefore it ought 

 not to be too small, and, for this reason, instead 

 of a lid to the basket, we would recommend that 

 a piece of fine muslin be tied over it, to prevent 

 the birds from scrambling out. By not attending 



D 



