WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS 



their nest is large, it is so carefully constructed of materials 

 resembling in colour the bark of the tree, and is made to blend 

 itself so gradually with the branches, as to show no distinct 

 outline of a nest, and to render it very difficult to discover ; 

 and this bird, at other times so shy and timid, sits so close on 

 her eggs that she will almost allow herself to be taken by the 

 hand. The missel-thrushes on the approach of a hawk give a 

 loud cry of alarm, and then collecting all their neighbours, lead 

 them on to attack the common enemy, swooping and striking 

 fearlessly at him, till he is driven out of the vicinity of their 

 nests. 



The observation of the different plans that birds adopt to 

 avoid the discovery and destruction of their eggs, is by no 

 means an uninteresting study to the naturalist. There is far 

 more of art and cunning design in their manner of building, 

 than the casual observer would suppose, and this, even amongst 

 the commonest pi our native birds. The wren, for instance, 

 always adapts her nest to the colour and appearance of the 

 surrounding foliage, or whatever else may be near the large 

 and comfortable abode which she forms for her tiny family. 

 In a beech-hedge near the house, in which the leaves of the last 

 year still remain at the time when the birds commence building, 

 the wrens form the outside of their nests entirely of the withered 

 leaves of the beech, so that, large as it is, the passer-by would 

 never take it for anything more than a chance collection of 

 leaves heaped together, and though the nest is as firm and 

 strong as possible, they manage to give it the look of a confused 

 mass of leaves, instead of a round and compact ball, which it 

 really is. The wren also builds near the ground, about the 

 lower branches of shrubs which are overgrown and surrounded 

 with long grass : in these situations she forms her nest of the 

 long withered grass itself, and twines and arches it over her 

 roof, in a nianner which would deceive the eyes of any animal, 

 excepting those of boys. When her nest is built, as it often is, 

 in a spruce fir tree, she covers the outside with green moss, 

 which of all the substances she could select is the one most 

 resembling the foliage of the spruce : the interior of the wren's 

 nest is a perfect mass of feathers and soft substances. 



The chaffinch builds usually in the apple-trees, whose lichen- 

 covered branches she imitates closely, by covering her nest with 



