xliv 
INTRODUCTION. 
and, consequently, are incubated in an equable temperature. Were the 
bottom flat, it is obvious that some of them might lie in the angles, and the 
body of the parent rest on the lining, instead of its eggs. In the choice 
of situation, birds regard the readiness with which they can obtain their food ; 
and near those places in which it can be found in greatest abundance, 
or where they expect security, they fix their abode. Thus the Kingfisher 
and Water Ouzel huild in the banks that margin our rivers. The Water 
Hen, and the Water Rail, amid rushes, or in hollow places, near ponds 
and streams : and the House Sparrow, in holes of walls. Thus the Missel- 
thrush, although in its general habits a shy and timid bird, resorts, in the 
spring, to the orchards contiguous to our dwellings, to avoid the predacious 
attacks of the Hawk, the Magpie, the Crow, and the Jay. Old birds, in 
general, begin first to raise their little habitations ; and, from experience, 
place them more cunningly than the younger ones: and some species take 
infinite pains to secure theirs from the sight. The Nightingale artfully 
hides its nest in the bottom of a thorn, at the top of the hedge, covering 
the outside with withered leaves. The Stonechat, and the Whinchat 
seek a retreat under some little bank, or bush, and endeavour to conceal their 
nests with great skill. The nest of the Wheatear is not less cunningly 
hidden ; and the Little Wren, in every situation, contrives to make the 
outward appearance of its comparatively-large apartment, as similar to 
the bank, or hole, in which it is placed, as its ingenuity can suggest; and the 
Golden-crested Wren, when it erects its nest beside the trunk of a tree, 
seeks for one covered with ivy, in which it may be entirely enveloped. 
Among the most early in the business of incubation are, the Rook, the Robin, 
the Wren, the Blackbird, the Hedge Sparrow, and the Thrush : and among 
the latest, the Yellow Bunting, the Cirl Bunting, the Goatsucker, the 
Linnet, the Greenfinch, the Goldfinch, and the Wood Pigeon. Few nests 
are found before the beginning of March, and fewer after the month of 
August. Some birds are remarkable for their ingenuity in rearing the little 
fabric, particularly the Swallow and the Martin ; perhaps from them the idea 
was obtained of raising for our own habitations walls of straw, incor- 
