664 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



guished from the sparrow by its slender form, its blue-grey 

 colour, and the absence of the black patches that mark the head 

 and throat of the true sparrow. 



It is very plentiful in England, and that it should be so is rather 

 remarkable on account of the exposed situation and conspicuous 

 form of its nest. The red-backed shrike is remiss enough in 

 placing its nest ; but the Hedge Sparrow seems to be utterly 

 heedless on the subject, and appears absolutely to invite the 

 attention of its foes, which are many. 



Pirst and foremost comes the bird-nesting boy, whose eyes are 

 generally so sharp that to conceal a nest from him is no easy 

 matter. Then the Hedge Sparrow is one of the earliest builders, 

 and so hasty is it in its proceedings that I have seen the half- 

 finished nest filled with the snows of early spring. The bird 

 had been in such a hurry to set up housekeeping that she would 

 not even wait until the leaves were sufficiently large to shelter 

 the nest; and, as might be expected, the snow found an easy 

 entrance into the unprotected edifice. In consequence, more- 

 over, of this passion for early building, the nest is so con- 

 spicuous an object in the leafless hedge, that the most casual 

 glance cannot fail to detect it, while the natural foes of the bird, 

 namely, the boy, the stoat, the cat, cuckoo, and others, find it 

 the easiest of their prey. 



The boy, for example, who might not be able to reach the 

 nest of the shrike, which is placed some five or six feet from the 

 ground, has no dif&culty whatever in harrying that of the Hedge 

 Sparrow, which is seldom more than two feet from the ground. 

 Moreover, although the older nest-hunters wUl not trouble 

 themselves about eggs so common as those of the Hedge Sparrow, 

 the novices, and even many who ought to know better, can 

 never resist the round, shining blue shells, as they lie snugly 

 packed away in their basket-like receptacle. 



Then there is the cuckoo, that flies about the hedgerows, 

 peering into every nest and looking out for a foster home for her 

 eggs, which she cannot hatch, and for the young which she 

 cannot cherish. There is, perhaps, no nest which is easier to be 

 seen or more accessible when discovered than that of the Hedge 

 Sparrow, and the consequence is, that the cuckoo's egg is oftener 

 to be found in the nest of the Hedge Sparrow than in that of 

 any other bird. This circumstance is certainly unfortunate to 



