XX 
INTRODUCTION. 
celebrated heronry on the property of Sir George Musgrave, Bart., at Eden Hall, in Cumberland, which 
comprises about one hundred nests, and the estate of W. Amhurst T. Amhurst, Esq., at Didlington Park, in 
Norfolk. Other and most interesting colonies of birds are to be seen, such as those of the Black-headed 
Gulls, in various counties, particularly at Scoulton and other meres in Norfolk. 
With respect to the receptacles for their eggs when laid, birds offer many interesting peculiarities. Some 
will content themselves with the bare ledge of a rock, the pyriform shape of their eggs being the only safe- 
guard against their falling over the precipice ; others deposit their eggs on a mass of sea-weed or in a 
floating nest composed of rotten aquatic plants, as is the case with the Grebes. Where a more ambitious 
structure is erected, we find every degree of complication, from the loosely built platform of the Wood- 
Pigeon to the elegant lichen-crusted nest of the Long-tailed Tit. Each species shows in its nesting a most 
perfect adaptation to the exigencies of the situation. Where, like the nest of the Sedge-Warblers, it is 
swayed to and fro amidst the reeds by every passing wind, the deep purse-like shape of the interior is a safe 
provision against the eggs being blown out ; under our eaves the homely Martin plasters its nest of mud ; 
the Goldcrest hangs its hammock-like cradle beneath the tip of a pendent fir hough ; and in holes of trees 
and w'alls the Tits delight to construct their felted nests. 
I should fatigue my readers and exceed the latitude allowed me in this introduction, were I to dwell longer 
upon the situations affected by various species in their nldification, or the w'ondrous forms shown in the 
construction of their homes. Otherwise I might dilate upon the ingenuity displayed in the dome-like nests of 
the Magpie, in the approach to that shape seen in those of the common House-Sparrow when built in trees, 
or in the fish-bone floor of the Kingfisher’s retreat ; but all these will he found more fully dwelt upon in the 
descriptions attached to the representation of each species in the body of the work. I may, however, remark 
in passing that the structural skill displayed by many of our birds is far surpassed by that of certain foreign 
species; and we are struck with astonishment when we gaze upon such nests as those of the Tailorbird, the 
Sociable Grosbeak, the Weaverbird, the Icleri or Hang-nests. 
In writing upon subjects connected with ornithology I find the associations of my boyhood ever flitting 
before me. Well can I recollect the dried body of the brightly coloured Kingfisher hanging from the cottager’s 
ceiling, and supposed hy its movements to point the direction of the wind* — a superstition now, like many 
others, happily abandoned. Well do I recollect also the particoloured strings of eggs with which I and 
my companions delighted to festoon the walls, and which were rigorously destroyed in our games before 
the termination of the year, in order to ward off the ill-luck otherwise supposed to ensue. I can still 
“ But how now stands the wind I 
Into what corner peers ray halcyon’s bill 1 ” 
Marlowe’s Jew of Malta. 
