Talbot : The Birds of Wakefield, 



149 



correspond in colour with the prevailing tint of surrounding 

 objects ; I have seen them with the outer covering composed of 

 delicately green moss, others covered with silvery lichen, whilst 

 some are encased in dead leaves or withered ferns. Once I found 

 this tiny one's house forming quite a picture as it nestled in a 

 thick honeysuckle, the leaves of which were interwoven with long 

 green moss. It will bear comparison with the nest of either 

 chaffincli, goldfinch, or longtailed tit, whose skill m nest building 

 has been so highly lauded by ornithologists. Considering the 

 smallness of the wren, its voice is very powerful ; it makes the 

 woods and meadows resound with its loud but brief song. 



Hoopoe {JJpupa epops)—^ 



In 1854 I saw a specimen of this gaily-plumaged bird in the 

 possession of Mr. Wright, of Wakefield, who told me it had been 

 shot at Fryston. 



Nuthatch {Sitta eurojxsa) — 



Two were shot in 1853 by Mr. Firth, and one in 1855 by Mr. 

 Link — both within a short distance of the town. 



CUCULID^. 



Cuckoo {Cuculus canorus) — 



This summer migrant may be often seen in this district, and its 

 voice may be heard in almost every wood and hillside meadow 

 during its stay. Although it scorns, like many another biped, 

 to toil to provide a house for itself, yet it has some compunction 

 in its appropriation of the nests of others, as it never lays more 

 than one egg in the same nest. I have found an addition made 

 by the cuckoo to the eggs of the pied wagtail, hedge accentor, 

 meadow pipit, and yellow bunting. My earliest note of its 

 arrival is the 9th of April, and as late as tlie 30th of September 

 I have had young birds brought to me. 



HALCYONIDiE. 



Kingfisher {Alcedo ispida) — 



In five localities near the town the kingfisher breeds almost 

 every year ; in oile of these places, however, I am sorry to say 

 the eggs are often taken. The readiest mode of discovering the 

 . nest is to take a terrier which is fond of hunting rats by the 

 waterside, and he will not pass a nest — particularly during 

 incubation — without drawing attention to it. The stench from 



