APPENDIX. 
383 
Iiole. On visiting tlie spot tins evening I was pleased to find tliat 
the birds liad not only cleared away all the loose sand and riihhish, 
hut had actually built a new nest, in which were two eggs. 
e. The Little Owl. 
256. (J/ay 5.) — I very frequently see the bird-catchers coming 
home early in the morning, each one carrying with him a Little 
Owl, alive, in a basket. I met one of the men this morning, and 
he told me that the Owl was used for the purpose of enticing birds 
to the nets, but he made a secret of the precise manner in which 
this was done. He has promised to bring me some Little Owls’ 
eggs soon. He says that he often finds them in old walls about 
this time of year, or a little later. 
(ii.) Samples from the Journal for 1855 — North Wales, 
a. Eoosting Habits of the Finches. 
1855 . — February 14, Wednesday . — Several heavy falls of snow. 
216. The flocks of Greenfinches, Bramblings, and Chaffinches having 
now greatly increased, I determined this evening to pay them a 
visit after they had gone to roost. Accordingly, some time after 
sunset, I crept silently among the evergreens near the river, and 
noiselessly moving aside the branches of a large Portugal laurel, 
could just make out the forms of one or two birds against the sky. 
I remained crouching for several minutes, when, happening to 
make a slight noise, I saw heads moving about in dozens. Their 
owners were all crowded together near the trunk, so closely and in 
such numbers that I no longer wondered how small birds managed 
to keep themselves warm at this season of the year. Much as I 
myself should disapprove of being frightened out of bed on such a 
night, I could not resist the temptation of giving the tree a shake, 
upon which there followed such a scene as I shall not easily forget. 
Thousands upon thousands of Bramblings, Chaffinches, and Green- 
finches (I could recognise them by their notes), rose from every 
surrounding shrub, and flew into the trees above, with such a 
tremendous noise of rushing wings that for the moment I was 
positively frightened. But their alarm, as well as my own, was 
