BIRDS. 



317 



long strings of moss around the contiguous branches, and 

 binding them with felted wool, thus weaving the bush itself 

 into the common structure. It is because of this con- 

 nexion that it is next to impossible to take a nest without 

 so damaging it as nearly to destroy all its beauty ■ it can- 

 not be removed without being almost torn to pieces. Then 

 it must be adorned with little bits of gray and yellow and 

 green lichens, stuck on the outside and bound down with 

 cobweb, which doubtless greatly improve the beauty of 

 their house in the eyes of the tasteful owners — Mr and 

 Mrs Chaffy. 



Well, then, the exterior is finished : — now it must be 

 lined. Moss and wool are soft and warm, but something 

 softer and warmer must be procured before it is a fit 

 cradle for five naked tender birdlings. Besides, it must be 

 made smoother than it is. Now the birds go a-searching 

 along the lanes and over the commons for stray hairs, es- 

 pecially those of cows and of rabbits and hares ; these they 

 introduce, and, coiling them round the cavity, render it 

 beautifully smooth and globular. The soft small body- 

 feathers of other birds are then sought, particularly those 

 of the ducks in the farm-yard, and interwoven with the 

 hair; and the structure, now complete, is looked 'on with 

 complacency by the industrious pair. The Chaffinch, 

 however, does not make so much use of feathers for lining 

 as some other of our small birds. 



The Goldfinch, as we have said above, makes a more 

 compact structure than this, as it is careful not to leave a 

 single projecting sprig of moss or filament of down, bind- 

 ing down the w T hole into a smoothly felted surface. It is 

 fond of moss and wool, but does not much use hair or 



