BRITISH BIRDS. 
214 
other relation to the Sparrow than in the dinginef^ 
of its colours ; in every other refpeft it differs en- 
tirely. It remains with us the whole year, and 
builds its neff: near the ground ; it is compofed of 
mofs and wool, and lined with hair; the female 
generally lays four or five eggs, of a uniform pale 
blue, without any fpots : The young are hatched 
about the beginning of May. During the time of 
fitting, if a cat or other voracious animal fhould 
happen to come near the neff, the mother endea- 
vours to divert it from the fpot by a ftratagem fi- 
milar to that by which the Partridge mifleads the 
dog : She fprings up, flutters from fpot to fpot, and 
by that means allures her enemy to a fafe diftance. 
In France, the Hedge-fparrow is rarely feen but in 
winter ; it arrives generally in October, and de- 
parts in the fpring for more northern regions, 
where it breeds. It is fuppofed to brave the ri- 
gours of winter in Sweden, and that it affumes 
the white plumage common in thofe fevere cli- 
mates in that feafon. Its fong is little varied, but 
pleafant, efpecially in a feafon when all the other 
■warblers are filent : Its ufual ftrain is a fort of qui- 
vering, frequently repeating fomething like the fol- 
lowing tit-tit- tititit, from whence, in fome places, 
it is called the Titling, We have already obfer- 
ved that the Cuckoo frequently makes ufe of the 
neff of this bird to depofit her egg in* 
