OR, PLAIN TEACHING. 



117 



until their pairing in spring. Its food is en- 

 tirely insects, which it seeks among mosses and 

 lichens, the very smallest being captured by the 

 diminutive bill of this creature. Its nest is as 

 singular in construction as the bird itself. Even 

 in years long passed away, when, a nesting 

 boy, I strung my plunder on the benty grass, 

 it was my admiration ; and I never see it now 

 without secretly lauding the industry of these 

 tiny architects. It is shaped like a bag, and 

 externally fabricated of moss and different 

 herbaceous lichens, collected chiefly from the 

 sloe and the maple ; but the inside contains 

 such a profusion of feathers, that it seems 

 rather filled than lined with them— a perfect 

 feather bed! I remember finding fourteen or 

 sixteen pea-like eggs within this tiny covert, 

 and many more were reported to have been 

 found. The excessive labour of the parent 

 bird in the construction and collection of this 

 mass of materials is exceeded by none ; and the 

 exertions of two little creatures in providing 

 for and feeding, with all the incumbrances of 

 feathers and tails, fourteen young ones, in such 

 a situation, surpass in diligence and ingenuity 

 the efforts of any other birds, persevering as 

 they are, that I am acquainted with.* " 



The redbreast is a very early- 

 builder, and usually selects for 

 its nest, 14, a shallow cavity 



14 



414. 



among grass, or moss, in a bank, 

 or at the root of a tree, some- 

 times in the hole of a tree in a 

 wood or secluded lane, far dis- 

 tant from its winter haunts about 

 the cottage door, or the farm 

 yard. The nest is formed of 

 various materials, carefully lined 

 with hnir and wool. The eggs 



* Journal of a Naturalist. 



are five to six, reddish-white, 

 faintly freckled with light pur- 

 plish red. 



The butcher-bird, so called 

 from its habit of sticking insects 

 on the point of a thorn, to attract 



!5 



415. 



small birds within its reach, for 

 the purpose of preying upon 

 them, builds its nest, 15, of grass- 

 stalks, roots, and moss, generally 

 placing them upon the branches 

 of trees. The eggs, from four 

 to six, are of a greyish-white, 

 spotted on the larger end with 

 light brown and ash. 



A gentleman, who was fond of reading works 

 on natural history, but who seldom looked into 

 the great book of nature itself, expressed to us 

 his doubts of the account originally given by 

 Heckwelder, of the butcher-bird sticking in- 

 sects on the point of a thorn as a bait, to allure 

 small birds within its reach. He never thought, 

 however, of disproving or ascertaining the cir- 

 cumstances, and was surprised beyond measure 

 to be informed that at least one species of the 

 butcher-bird (lanius collurio) was as common 

 in his immediate neighbourhood as the song- 

 thrush, and therefore opportunities of observing 

 its manners could not be wanting. To satisfy 

 ourselves, as well as to settle the doubts of our 

 friend, we undertook to watfc'h the proceedings 

 of the species just named, as also of the greater 

 butcher-bird (lanius excubitor), both of which 

 are so common, that we found half-a-dozen of 

 the nests of each within five miles of Lee, in 

 Kent. We discovered that near those nesta 

 large insects, such as humble-bees, and also 

 that the unfledged nestlings of small birds, werg 

 stuck upon the thorns.* 



* Architecture of Birds. 



