IVY WREN. ORNITHOLOGIST'S TEXT-BOOK. 209 



or four instances of it have fallen under my obser- 

 vation, it appears to have been noticed by no 

 writer on British Ornithology, whose works I have 

 consulted. 



The course taken by this bird in building its 

 curious piece of architecture, is accurately, but not 

 very minutely, related by Selby — undoubtedly the 

 first authority on such subjects. In some parti- 

 culars, however, the observations here detailed 

 differ from those of that eminent Ornithologist. 

 First a kind of cup, shaped like an ordinary nest, 

 open at the top, is made ; next the sides and roof, 

 or " dome", are erected, and the whole exterior 

 rendered smooth and even, leaving a small opening 

 towards the top, and twining a few slender twigs 

 round the entrance, to make the whole firm. The 

 last operation consists in establishing a feather-bed 

 inside, for the reception of the nestlings. When 

 composed of leaves, however, it is lined merely 

 with a few horsehairs, which is remarkable enough, 

 as the leaves must obviously be much less warm 

 and comfortable than soft moss ; but the fact is 

 certain. The raspberry leaves, when first laid, 

 are always fresh and green, but become quite 

 brown and autumnal in the course of a few days. 



In the case of the Ivy Wren building in rasp- 

 berry bushes, with the leaves of the same shrub, 

 the color of the nest was certainly singularly well 

 adapted to its locality. In one instance, however, 

 I remember to have found it between two of the 

 dense Jlakes of foliage (so to speak) of the fir tree, 

 and composed exclusively of beech and oak leaves, 

 with the usual intermixture of moss and slender 

 twigs, which was evidently but ill calculated to 

 conceal the structure. This specimen was loosely 

 put together, and never contained more than three 

 eggs, after which it was, not unwisely, deserted. 

 On cutting off the branch on which it rested, the 

 s 3 



