32 Birds I Have Kept. 



and a braw wee birdie it is, very confiding, lively, and merry 

 in ■winter time, though uncommonly shy in summer. 



Not one of our wild birds lays such an egg, such a turc[uoise 

 gem rather, the much coveted prize of that variety of the 

 genus known as the country schoolboy. Dear me! what 

 dozens, scores, nay, hundreds of them I have taken in my 

 time, blown and strung upon a piece of twine! all unknown 

 to my excellent mother, who always discountenanced bird- 

 nesting; wisely as now I know, but very arbitrarily as I 

 thought in those far away days. 



The length of the Hedge Accentor is five inches and a 

 half, of which the tail measures rather more than two. The 

 head, which is somewhat narrow, is, together with the neck, 

 of a dark ash colour, marked with very dark brown spots; 

 the breast is a deep slate colour. 



The female is lighter, and has more brown spots on the 

 head than her mate; but it nevertheless takes some acquaint- 

 ance with these birds to readily distinguish the sexes from 

 each other. 



This bird is found in all parts of Europe, frequenting every 

 hedgerow and copse, and even large gardens in the suburbs 

 of London: it forms a link between insect and seed-eating 

 birds, and partakes indiscriminately of either food, so that it 

 can be very readily kept in the house; where, however, unless 

 very tame, it has a mouse-like habit of hiding itself away 

 in holes and corners. 



The Hedge Accentor makes a beautiful nest of moss and 

 roots, lined with wool and hair, usually selecting a thick 

 quickset hedge to build in, or a bushy shrub, such as an 

 arbor vitce, or a clump of box. The nest is never far from 

 the ground, and usually contains from four to six eggs of a 

 beautiful turquoise blue. The young leave the nest early, 

 often before they can fly: there are two or three broods in 

 the year. The Hedge Accentor is more usually selected as a 

 foster- parent for its young than any other bird by the Cuckoo. 



