HEDGE ACCENTOR. 
201 
or knots of woo], and occasionally a few long horse-hairs ; 
the nest, when complete, has an unfinished appearance, espe¬ 
cially on the outside, which is very ragged ; within, however, 
it is thickly and warmly lined, the cow’s hair forming an 
excellent mattress. We have generally observed that the 
materials employed in a Hedge Sparrow’s nest are of a dark 
colour, especially the inner lining; can this be in order to 
harmonize the better with the black and dingy colouring of 
the young nestlings when first hatchedIt is remarkable 
that the cuckoo, which lays a pale, mottled, greyish-brown 
egg, should so often deposit it in the nest of this species, 
whose eggs are of so different a character : instinct may teach 
the parent cuckoo that her young, when hatched, exhibits a 
red gaping mouth, similar to those of the young Hedge 
Sparrows, therefore her choice may be a necessary precaution 
in the deceit practised upon the duped foster parents. The 
nest of this species is in form deep and well rounded, and 
the eggs, from five to seven in number, are in shape and 
colour as represented in our Plate. 
In form the Hedge Accentor is slender and delicate, the 
tail long and narrow, and the beak thin and compressed to¬ 
wards the tip. The colours of the adult male bird are as 
follows: the head, neck, and breast are pale slate-colour ; 
the cheeks are tinged with dusky, and the feathers have 
white shaft streaks; the top of the head, and nape of the 
neck are tinged with brown. The upper part of the back 
and the shoulder feathers are light reddish-brown, with dusky 
spots in the centre of each feather, giving a tessellated appear¬ 
ance ; the rump and upper coverts yellowish-brown. The 
throat is of a paler grey than the head, and the middle of the 
belly dingy white; the flanks are yellowish-grey, with long 
brown streaks, darkest about the thighs ; the under tail- 
coverts are yellowish-white, with a dusky lancet-shaped streak. 
The wings resemble in colour the back, the feathers being 
