244 THE BOOK OF BIRDS 



to them too exposed. Inasmuch as the Robin is a very 

 early builder — February is not an uncommon time, and 

 one fully finished nest was once found in mid- January — 

 the habit would seem to show a good deal of common sense. 

 Later builders can rely on the young leaves to help conceal 

 their handiwork. 



The eggs, as some of you know, are white spotted or 

 freckled with bright red. They are usually about half a 

 dozen in number, and are laid as early as March, but two 

 and even three broods are reared during the year. The 

 nest is made of dead leaves and moss, with a lining of 

 hair and feathers. The most common situation for it 

 is "in holes in banks, walls or hollow trees, or amongst 

 ivy." 



But if that is the rule, there are numberless exceptions. 

 Indeed, page after page might be filled with anecdotes of 

 the singular places which Robins, from time to time, have 

 chosen for home and nursery. Here are a few cases which 

 may be new to you. 



In the parish church of Hampton-in-Arden, in War- 

 wickshire, a pair of Robins built their nest, two years 

 running, on the big Bible as it lay on the reading-desk. 

 The kindly vicar ordered the nest to be left undisturbed 

 and brought another Bible, from which he read the 

 lessons. 



Even bolder were two other Robins who were so 

 pleased with the weekday quiet of a certain chapel at 

 Thame in Oxfordshire, that they decided upon building 

 there. When Sunday came round, the owners of one of 

 the pews found to their amazement a half-finished nest, 

 lying on the book-ledge between two books. Very 

 considerately the family decided to occupy another pew 

 until nesting and nursery time should be over. By the 



