SAXBY : NESTS AND EGGS OP BRITISH BIRDS. 



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easily accounted for by the fact tliat althoiigli the foot of the hedge which 

 formed one boundary of a kitchen garden, a new bed had just been dug 

 upon which the above materials were so abundant that the birds had no 

 occasion to seek for others. 



Among my notes I find record of two instances in which the nest was 

 placed upon the ground among tall weeds, and one in which it was situated 

 among the branches of a Laurustinus within four feet of that of a song 

 thrush. I also remember finding one among some ivy upon the support of 

 a verandah. 



Hedgesparrow, Accentor modularis. The following is a short history 

 of a hedgesparrow's nest discovered on the 18th April, 1855, among some 

 ivy upon the wall of my father's house. On that day it contained two eggs 

 of the well known greenish blue colour. Late in the evening of the 19th a 

 third was added, and a fourth still later on the 20th, when the female began 

 to sit. At that time her extreme shyness caused me to fear she would desert, 

 for every person entering the house almost brushed against the very leaves 

 beneath which the nest was concealed. Gradually, however, she became 

 more accustomed to these frequent interruptions, and by the fourth day would 

 remain upon a twig within arms reach while I placed bread crumbs upon the 

 nest, coming down and eating them in my presence as soon as I retired a few 

 paces from the spot. On the 25th the eggs underwent a considerable change 

 in appearance ; they lost their former gloss and brilliancy and rapidly became 

 darker. On the evening of the 3rd May, the fourteenth day of incubation, 

 my attention was directed to the nest by observing one of the birds carrying 

 away a piece of egg shell in its bill and then I discovered the first young one. 

 A little more than an hour afterwards the remaining three were hatched and 

 the shells had disappeared ; and although I kept a constant watch from the 

 window, from that time until nearly dark I did not see any food carried to 

 the nest. Twenty-four hours later the nestlings had greatly increased in 

 size. They had a tuft of dark grayish down above each eye, and two larger 

 than these upon the back. On the 4th one of the nestlings died and was 

 carried away soon afterwards, but unfortunately I did not witness the act of 

 removal. On the 9th the eyes of the remaining three began to open and the 

 feathers, especially those of the wings and tail were growing rapidly. 

 On the 17th, just a month from the commencement of laying, I found the 

 I young brood in the path beneath the nest. The parents seemed very anxious 

 to lead them away to some place of safety, and kept flitting to and fro, now 

 alighting upon the ground among them, now upon the neighbouring bushes, 

 No. 60, April 1. m 



