228 
BRITISH BIRDS* 
nate bars of a reddifh brown and blaick ; the legs 
are of a pale olive brown. 
This diminutive little bird is very common in 
England, and braves our feverefl: winters, which it 
contributes to enliven by its fprightly note. Du- 
ring that feafon it approaches near the dwellings of 
man, and takes fhelter in the roofs of houfes, barns, 
hay-ftacks, and holes in the walls ; it continues its 
fong till late in the evening, and not unfrequently 
during a fall of fnow : In the fpring it betakes itfelf 
to the woods, where it builds its neft near the 
ground, in a low bulh, and fometimes on the turf, 
beneath the trunk of a tree, or in a hole in the 
wall ; its nell is conflrudted with much art, being 
of an oval fhape, with one fmall aperture in the 
fide for an entrance ; it is compofed chiefly of 
mofs, and lined within with feathers ; the female 
lays from ten to fixteen, and fometimes eighteen 
eggs, of a dirty white, dotted with red at the larger 
end. 
