250 SYLVIAD A, 
frequent visits of the owners of the cottage, deterred these 
fearless settlers. They entered through a window-frame, 
the lattice of which had been removed; and in a child’s 
covered cart, which, with its horse attached to it, was 
hanging on a peg over the fire-place, and just afforded 
space for the purpose, they built their first nest early in 
the spring. The circumstance was observed, and soon 
became an object of curiosity to the neighbours, many of 
whom came to look at the nest: these inquisitive visits, 
however, had not the effect of alarming the birds, who 
here reared without accident their first brood. When 
the attention of the parents was no longer needed by their 
full-fledged offspring, they set about providing for another 
family, and built their second nest on a shelf on the oppo- 
site side of the room close to an old mouse-trap. Here 
again they received visits of inquiry from bipeds of a larger 
growth, and reared and dismissed their progeny. This 
second brood had no sooner left them, than they again 
betook themselves to the task of building a third nest 
under the same sheltering roof, and for this purpose chose 
another shelf, in a different corner of the same room ; and 
there, in their mossy bed, on a bundle of papers, on the 
21st of June, were four half-fledged nestlings, which the 
hen was feeding while a party was watching the proceed- 
ing, the cock bird contenting himself with looking on 
from the outside. There was no doubt that the same 
pair of birds belonged to each successive nest, as the loss 
of her tail rendered the hen conspicuous. 
Mr. Blackwall of Manchester relates that “a pair of these 
birds built their nest in a small saw-pit. Soon after the 
female had begun to sit, the sawing of timber was com- 
menced at this pit; and though the persons employed 
continued their noisy occupation close to the nest every 
