200 
SYLVIAD.E. 
SO drooping and sad, that we thought it necessary to give 
the poor solitary its liberty, in order to save its life. To 
their human friends these birds also appear grateful and at¬ 
tached ; we kept a pair one winter in a garden-cage, and not 
desiring to prolong their imprisonment, we let them out early 
in the spring, as soon as we thought they would be able com¬ 
fortably to obtain their subsistence. They were no sooner 
free than, instead of forsaking us, they commenced building 
themselves a nest in a leafless hedge, about two yards from 
their former prison. 
The food of this species consists of insects and seeds: in 
the spring of the year and summer, they feed principally on 
the former, such as small beetles, caterpillars, flies, and the 
larvse of many insects ; but in autumn and winter they sub¬ 
sist much on seeds, which they pick up from the ground, 
bnt never gather from the trees or plants on which they are 
produced, which circumstance speaks greatly in favour of the 
harmlessness of this little creature, as well as of its utility in 
clearing the ground from thousands of superfluous seeds. 
The young birds are invariably fed with insects. 
In confinement the Hedge Accentor feeds on rape and 
hemp-seed, crumbs of bread, chopped meat, and almost 
everything eatable. These birds are easily tamed, and will 
live some years, seemingly contented and happy. 
The Hedge Sparrow is a very early breeder; we have 
reason to believe it to be the earliest of any of our native 
birds. Among our memoranda we have a notice of having- 
seen a nest of this species on the 21st of January; and as 
late as the 22nd of July we have found one with fresh-laid 
eggs in it. The nest of this species is usually placed in a 
thick thorn hedge, or bramble, at an elevation of from one 
to four feet from the ground. It is usually composed of 
green ground-vnoss, intermixed with roots and dry stalks, to 
which the moss is attached, and lined with tufts of cow’s hair, 
