BRITISH SONG-BIRDS. 143 



live a stepmother to be fed. The whole is cer- 

 tainly a phenomenon in natural history. 



We have frequently scared the hedge-sparrow 

 from her nest ; when, to draw us away from the 

 spot, she appeared as if her leg or wing was broken. 

 And " if a cat or other voracious animal should 

 happen to come near the nest, the mother endea- 

 vours to divert it from the spot by a stratagem si- 

 milar to that by which the partridge misleads the 

 dog, — she springs up, flutters from place to place, 

 and by that means allures her enemy to a safe 

 distance." 



Young and old hedge-sparrows are managed 

 fed, and treated, in every respect, like young and 

 old redbreasts. 



