34 RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



from the ground ; in the lovvh- hawthorn ; the alder 

 bordering the stream ; sometimes in the ash, sixty feet 

 above the ground ; more rarel}- in the beech ; while very 

 often the towering oak and silver birch are selected, \^'e 

 also find it in ever}- species of fruit tree ; and what I 

 have noticed as ver\- singular is, that though the nest is 

 often very conspicuous, it is often overlooked until the 

 eggs are hatched, or the young have left their birthplace 

 for e\'er. Missel-thrushes will sometimes build their nests 

 very close together ; I on one occasion counted four of 

 their nests a few yards apart in the secluded corner of a 

 swampy wood. The nest is placed in some convenient 

 fork, often built on a branch growing at right angles to 

 the trunk, and but very rarely constructed amongst the' 

 more slender twigs. I on one occasion found a nest 

 belonging to this species in a large yew shrub : the nest 

 was placed at the end of one of the slender branches, 

 five feet from the ground, and was but very slightl}- 

 secured : it contained four eggs. In mj- opinion the 

 nest of this bird is but very rarely found in these 

 situations. It is composed of a few twigs, ccarse grass, 

 sometimes growing chickweed, mixed with large masses 

 of wool, cemented with mud, and lined \\-ith a verj- 

 thick lining of the finest grass. Some nests are com- 

 posed externally of a species of moss which grows in 

 swamps, and when dr>' is a greenish-white colour. This 

 when skilfull}- woven with the slender twigs of tlie 

 birch, and placed in that lovely sylvan tree, forms one 

 of the most beautiful specimens of bird architecture. I 

 have known this bird use ivy lea\es for the outside of 

 its nest, which was placed in a hawthorn tree just 

 bursting into leaf. Of all the birds which ha\e come 

 before my notice, perhaps none deposit more regularly 

 the same number of eggs. I have examined scores of 



