252 FIELD AND HEDGEROW. 
protection for the young birds, nor has the experience 
of hundreds of years of nest-building taught the chaffinch 
or the.missel-thrush to give its offspring a fair start 
in the famous ‘struggle for existence.’ Boys who want 
linnets or goldfinches watch till the young are almost 
ready to bubble over, and then place them in a cage 
where the old birds come and feed them. There is, 
then, no reason why the nest itself should not be 
designed for the safety of the fledgling as well as of the 
egg. Birds that nest in holes are frequently very 
prolific, notably the starling, which rears its brood by 
thousands in the hollow trees of forests. Though not 
altogether, in part their vast numbers appear due to the 
fact that their fledglings escape decimation. 
Country boys set some value on the eggs of the 
nettle-creeper or whitethroat because the nest is difficult 
to find, and the eggs curiously marked. They want the 
eggs as soon as laid, when they blow well ; and it is just 
at this stage that the nest is most difficult to discover, 
as the bird gives little evidence of its presence. The 
nest is placed among the thick grasses and plants 
that grow at the verge or down the sides of dry ditches, 
and is frequently overshadowed by nettles. But there 
does not appear to be any conscious effort at conceals 
ment. The bird spends the day searching for food in such 
places—hence its name nettle-creeper—creeping along 
the hedges, under brambles and thorns, and builds its 
nest in the locality to which it is accustomed. It may 
appear to be cunning to a superficial human observer, 
but it is certain that the bird does not think itself 
cunning. Men who live by fishing build their houses 
near the sea; those who cultivate wheat, in open plains; 
artisans, by factories. The whitethroat frequents the 
hedge and ditch, and there weaves its slender nest. So 
much has been attributed to birds of which they are 
