170 



THE NATURALIST. 



and constantly uttering a low cheeping cry which, was evidently far better 

 understood than all other methods of enticement. From the peculiarity of 

 their movements there could he no douht that they had some particular place 

 of refuge in view, and so the result proved, for in little more than half an 

 hour, after frequent stopping and panting for breath, and an occasional flut- 

 tering of their yet imperfectly formed wings, the young birds reached a 

 clump of evergreens, the drooping branches of which perfectly screened them 

 from view. There they remained during the rest of the day, the parent birds 

 constantly bringing them supplies of food, only desisting when the approach- 

 ing darkness prevented them from seeking more. When I peeped through 

 the bushes soon afterwards, the old birds were sitting among the branches, 

 while the three young ones were crouching close together upon the ground. 

 For several weeks the whole family remained about the garden after which 

 time they became scattered and I gradually lost sight of them. I am not 

 sure whether the male took part in the task of incubation ; if he did it must 

 have been at night, when it was impossible for me to distinguish the brighter 

 colours of his plumage. 



I have twice known the hedgesparrow cover its eggs with moss, and it 

 is not a little remarkable that upon each occasion the act immediately pre- 

 ceded a sudden change of weather. The first instance occurred as follows : — 

 Early in the spring of 1852, I found a newly finished nest in a low thorn 

 hedge. About a week afterwards I revisited it in the expectation of finding 

 eggs, but seeing it filled with moss intermixed with a small quantity of wool, 

 I did not meddle with it, feeling sure that the village boys had taken the 

 eggs and torn out the lining of the nest. This was at about five o'clock in 

 the afternoon, the weather being at that time mild and calm. Soon after 

 sunset, however, a smart breeze rose from N.IST.E., sleet began to fall, and by 

 midnight the thermometer had gone down to 37° Fahr. All the next day 

 the bad weather continued, and on passing the nest I still saw it in the same 

 state as on the previous evening. During the second, night the wind changed 

 and on the following morning the sky became clear, and the weather was 

 nearly as warm as before. About ten o'clock, a.m., while searching the 

 hedge for some new prize, I was astonished to find that the nest contained 

 three eggs, and that not a bit of the moss and wool with which it had so 

 lately been filled was anywhere in sight. At first it must be confessed I 

 suspected a trick upon the part of my old enemies the boys ; it was therefore 

 no small satisfaction afterwards to see the bird sitting upon four eggs, with 

 every prospect of rearing a brood, but alas ! one morning when I turned 



