THE BLUB-EYED YELLOW WABBLEB. " 549 



is said to build in bushes of considerable height and size. Now 

 this is not necessarily the case, inasmuch as the spinney which 

 *has just been mentioned was composed entirely of trees and low- 

 brushwood, and the Bullfinches always preferred the latter. I cer- 

 tainly have often found their nests in tall bushes, and sometimes 

 in trees ; but they were always placed at so low an elevation that 

 the height of the tree or bush had no eflfect on that of the nests. 



If the reader will refer to page 199, he will see a short account 

 of the Hoop-shaver Bee, which strips off the down that clothes 

 the stem of the common bladder campion, or white-bottle {Silene 

 inflata), and uses it for the lining of her nest. 



There is a bird found in North America which has a similar 

 habit, peeling off the downy hairs of plants, and using them in 

 the structure of its nest. This is the pretty little Blue-eyed 

 Yellow Waeblek {Sylvia dtrinella), remarkable for the contrast 

 afforded by its blue bill and eyelids with the golden yellow of its 

 head and breast. 



When the bird builds her nest, she places it in the foot of a 

 shrub, either among briers of under them, and weaves its outer 

 walls of vegetable fibre, using flax or tow whenever she can find 

 it. The walls of the nest are strongly made, and woven firmly 

 into the twigs that support it. When she has finished the outer 

 nest, the bird goes to the fields, and carries off the hair of cattle 

 and other animals, and weaves them into a lining, which is made 

 softer and warmer by the downy hairs which grow on the stems 

 of certain ferns, and which the bird plucks off with great address. 



It is not only a pretty, but a useful and interesting bird. It is 

 usefal, because it is one of the insect-eaters, and may be constantly 

 seen at work among the leaves, picking up the little green cater- 

 pillars which destroy the trees, and which form its chief food. 

 Moreover, it brings up two broods of young during the year, each 

 brood being four and five in number, so that the havoc which it 

 makes among the caterpillars may be imagined. It is interesting 

 on account of the love which it bears toward its young, and ita 

 undaunted courage in defending them. When it is free from the 

 cares of a family it is as timid as any other bird, and makes the 

 best of its way -from the danger ; but if its nest be apprcfeched 

 while the eggs or young are still in it, the little bird seems to lose 

 all fear, and devotes itself to the task of decoying away the ap- 

 proaching foe. It pretends to be very ill or lame, stretches out 



