188 
HEDGE ACCENTOR. 
shrubbery. There it finds shelter during the 
night, and thence it enlivens the early morning 
with its pleasing but simple song ; and there it 
finds a place for its rudely built nest, often 
disturbed by the removal of the materials for 
various purposes before its duties of incubation 
have been accomplished. At the present time 
this bird is scarcely seen far distant from the 
vicinity of houses ; but before the period when 
cultivation became so general, its breeding places 
were low bushes on the skirts of a wood or com- 
mon, a hedge or low evergreen, and there its nest 
may still be occasionally discovered. The time of 
breeding is very early, and the birds may be seen 
evidently paired in the first week in February. 
The eggs are deposited in March, and a second 
brood is generally produced during the summer. 
The nest is based with slender twigs and roots, 
and is lined within with hair or grass. The eggs 
from four to six, of a beautiful bluish green, are 
always looked upon as a valued prize ; their deli- 
cate beauty bring an additional attraction when 
discovered ere many birds have commenced their 
labours, and often when all is surrounded with 
snow and hoar frost. When this early prize is 
attacked, considerable agitation is manifested, 
and both parents flit around with shrill and often 
reiterated complaints. The food during sum- 
mer is insects and the smaller molusea. During 
the winter, various seeds of grain and the provi- 
sion of the poultry-yard, furnish it with support. 
The range of this species seems confined to 
