76 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH INLAND BIRDS 
with the hole in the side, and is usually lined with 
feathers, but sometimes with fern, moss, and bits of 
dry leaves softly felted together. The resemblance 
of the nest to its surroundings is sometimes 
wonderfully close, as, for instance, when it is hung 
amongst dry bracken and brambles, and dead 
stems of the fern are used as a natural framework, 
which is filled up with other loose pieces of the 
same material. But there is no convincing evi- 
dence, in this and similar cases, of any conscious 
or definite " protective mimicry or " adaptation 
to environment " ; it is at least as likely that the 
bird simply made its nest of the material which 
lay nearest to hand. In other cases, too, as when 
the nest is made of green moss, and fills a chink 
in a grey wall or earthy bank, it is rather con- 
spicuous than otherwise ; and if the habit of 
deliberately making the nest resemble its surround- 
ings was to be credited to Wrens at all, we should 
naturally expect to see signs of it in most, if not 
all cases, instead of only in a comparatively small 
proportion. However this may be, the nest is a 
very ingenious and often beautiful one, remarkable, 
too, for its large size in proportion to the bird. 
From six to eight eggs are generally laid ; they 
vary a good deal in size, being also often large for 
the size of the bird, and as big as a Blue Tit's. 
They are pure white, thinly spotted and speckled 
