THE REDBREAST. 
237 
We shall close our anecdotes of singular situations chosen 
for building nests, with an instance of a Sparrow, who, like 
the preceding Robin, attached herself to a church ; hut 
instead of the parish Bible, selected the middle of a carved 
1 thistle, which decorated the top of the pulpit in a chapel at 
Kennaway in Scotland. It found free ingress and egress by 
means of the windows, which were left open for the purpose 
of airing the chapel in the week-days. This bird might 
literally be said to have verified the words of the Psalmist, 
“ The Sparrow hath found an house, where she may lay her 
young, even thine altars, 0 Lord.” 
Most of the birds of this tribe are migratory, either 
partially, or altogether so : we mean, that while the Night- 
ingales, Willow-wrens, and others disappear entirely from 
our shores, and retire to distant and more congenial climates, 
others, such as the Wag-tails, only move from one part of 
England to another. The exact times of their appearance 
and departure it would be desirable to ascertain, with 
reference to state of weather, direction of the wind, and 
prevalence of particular insects, &c. In short, the same 
principle holds good in natural history as in other science : 
namely, the importance of noting down observations, how- 
ever trivial they may appear at the time, as the most minute 
circumstance may possibly, when connected with other 
inquiries, lead to unexpected additions to our knowledge of 
the operations of nature, just as a unit or cipher in arithmetic 
becomes important, simply by taking its proper place. 
It might, indee'd, in connexion with this view of the sub- 
ject, afford an interesting object of research, were the daily, 
or almost hourly migrations, if we may so speak, more 
closely observed; my own belief being, that several species 
of birds are in the habit not only of, generally speaking, 
confining themselves to certain localities, but at certain hours 
of the day frequenting particular spots, an instance in proof 
may be given of a Robin, which during a considerable 
portion of the winter took shelter in Norwich Cathedral, 
perching during the Morning Service, and almost always 
within a minute or two of the same time, on a particular 
