THE HEDGE ACCENTOR. 67 



complaining, and uttered most frequently at eventide or 

 early in the morning. 



We are apt to think that the pairing of annual birds 

 takes place just prior to nesting duties, yet this in some 

 cases, at least, is not correct. From what I have ob- 

 served of the habits of the Hedge Accentor I am led to 

 believe that it pairs about, or soon after, the winter 

 solstice. About that period I see the Hedge Accentors 

 congregate in little parties of perhaps five and six 

 individuals — a circumstance, by the way, never observed 

 in this species save at mating time. The birds are also 

 unusually clamorous, and at times pugnacious, chasing 

 each other through the leafless hedgerows with every 

 sign of anger. These motions are but of short duration, 

 and then I see the Hedge Accentors invariably in pairs 

 right up to the nesting season in April. This is only 

 one instance, yet I feel convinced that when the matter 

 is more generally studied, fresh instances occurring in 

 other species will be brought to view. 



It is just as the hawthorn hedges begin to assume 

 their first signs of verdure, by the myriads of opening 

 buds clothing them in a tinge of the brightest green, 

 that the Hedge Accentor commences her unassuming 

 little home. In the hedgerows, or amongst brambles 

 covered with tall grasses, frequently in a heap of hedge 

 clippings, or in the branches of the evergreen, we find 

 the first nests in course of completion. The Hedge 

 Accentor's nest, like the bird, has nothing particularly 

 striking in its appearance, yet withal it is a handsome 

 little structure — beautiful in its simplicity — composed 

 in the first place of the greenest moss and twigs, with 

 mayhap a few bents and fine straws, cemented with cob- 

 webs, and the inner part lined with a thick and warm 

 lining of hair, feathers, and wool. The eggs of the 



