6 
NATURE NOTES. 
ing site -which in former years had occasionally been made use of 
by wrens. Possibl}’, a pair may have had a nest close by last 
year which had by some means been destroyed after the young 
had been reared, and the family finding it gone, had, in its stead, 
adopted as a sleeping place the nearest nest they could find. 1 
am not aware that the practice of making the nest serve as a 
winter dormitory is followed by any other British bird. 
In spring and summer the female water-hen conducts her 
newly-hatched brood at dusk to the nest in which they were 
hatched ; but to get a glimpse of the family settled for the night 
one has to emulate the noiseless tread of the red man, for at the 
slightest suspicion of danger they all instantly drop into the 
water, scuttle off among the reeds and sedges, and are seen no 
more. It seems marvellous how the funny little black chicks 
manage to clamber from the water up the steep sides of the nest, 
the top of which may be some six or eight inches above the 
surface. 
Some birds have a habit of roosting in the same place night 
after night for a long time if undisturbed. At a certain spot 
under the eaves of the building in which I am writing, there 
sleeps every night a little blue tit, and he has done so, I believe, 
almost uninterruptedly for four years, in fact, ever since the place 
was built. I now and then take a light and go to see if he is 
there, and do not recollect ever once missing him from his accus- 
tomed place. Having been from home, however, sometimes for 
several weeks together, I cannot state positively that he never 
shifts his quarters. Unfortunately, I have neglected to ascertain 
particularly whether he continues to roost there throughout the 
nesting season. He sleeps very soundly, seldom waking up when 
a light is thrown upon him, and looking like a bunch of fluffy 
feathers. Another blue tit has for some months slept in a “tit- 
box ” fixed up inside the porch of the same building, and barely 
two feet above the head of a person of middle height. Should 
there happen to be anyone standing in or near the porch when 
this important personage is about to retire for the night, he shows 
great displeasure and indignation — flying backwards and for- 
wards among the shrubs close to the intruder, and expressing his 
feelings in what sounds like decidedly “ strong language.” 
Sparrows sleep almost anywhere, provided they can find 
safety and shelter from the weather. Great numbers resort to 
old ivy-covered walls, and stacks of corn, hay, &c. On the 21st 
of last November I saw a cock-sparrow carrying a feather 
in his beak, and have noticed the same thing on other occasions 
out of the nesting season. It seems difficult to account for the 
habit, unless it be that the feathers are conve5^ed by the sparrows 
into their sleeping places under the tiles of houses and similar 
places. On the other hand, the propensity to pick up white or 
other conspicuously coloured feathers, may be somewhat akin to 
that which impels some birds, notably members of the crow 
family, to appropriate and hide bright glittering objects. iMany 
