HEDGE-SPARROW. 499 



wild rose and bramble heaped together in one confused mass are also very 

 frequently selected. Less frequently we may find it in aheap of pea-sticks^ 

 or amongst the masses of ivy growing over a wall, or even on a tree-trunk. 

 The nest is a handsome little structure, full of rustic beauty, composed of 

 green moss, a dead leaf or two, a little dry grass, and strengthened with a 

 few fine twigs ; moss usually forms the greater part of the nest ; and it is 

 lined with a thick warm bed of hair, feathers, and wool. It is a curious 

 fact that in the nests of this bird, when placed amongst thorns, a large 

 thorn often penetrates the nest, the bird making no attempt to cover 

 it. Dixon has the following note respecting its nest : — " I watched this 

 season the fortunes of a nest of the Hedge- Sparrow, from the time the 

 first few twigs were laid until it contained four eggs. The nest was only 

 a couple of feet from the ground, in a tangled mass of wild rose and 

 bramble, felted closely with withered leaves. From some cause, which 

 bafiBed all my attempts to explain it, the nest was forsaken the day after 

 the bird commenced to sit on her four eggs. Whether she had been killed 

 or not I cannot say ; but the eggs were never sat upon again. I left them 

 in the nest, thinking thatj after all, the bird might return ; and I was in 

 the habit of looking into it each day. I was rather surprised, about a 

 week after the bird had forsaken it, to find the ucst apparently empty; 

 and I then removed it, but was astonished to find the eggs still in the nest 

 and a fresh lining built entirely over them. Whether this was an attempt 

 to make a nest with little trouble by another pair of birds can only be 

 conjectured ; and as I had pulled the nest from its position^ I was prevented 

 from seeing the finale to tliis interesting circumstance. ^ Curious sites are 

 sometimes chosen by this bird for its nest. Gray, in his ' Birds of the 

 West of Scotland,'' mentions one which was built in a cave in the mass of 

 rocks known as Ailsa Craig. It was placed in a ledge of the rock at the 

 base of a tuft of hart's-tongue fern; and the floor of the cave was covered 

 with water. 



The eggs of the Hedge-Sparrow are from four to six in number, and 

 differ very little in shape or colour. They are a beautiful greenish blue in 

 colour, spotless and somewhat rough in texture — a character which will to 

 some extent serve to distinguish them from eggs of the Redstart. They 

 vary from '82 to '72 inch in length, and from '65 to '55 inch in breadth. 

 The Hedge- Sparrow often rears three broods in the year. It is one of the 

 earliest to breed, and also one of the latest ; for fresh eggs may often be 

 found late in July. 



The food of the Hedge-Sparrow is largely composed of insects and 

 worms, which it obtains principally on the ground ; it also feeds on small 

 seeds of various kinds. Its flight is slow and somewhat uncertain, and is 

 rarely prolonged for any distance. It is in the habit of jerking its wings, 

 from which it has received the local name of " Shufflewing." 



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