Chirps and 
Chatter. 
(6o) THE BIRD WORLD. 
once started, afford better cover, and 
soon become so dense that by the time 
the young are hatched the nest is snugly 
sheltered among a forest of stems and 
leaves. Often a nest when built is little 
more than a foot above the water, tut 
lifted by the growing reeds, it may be 
three times as high when the young are 
hatched. The nest is neat and strongly 
constructed, the outside being firrn'v 
woven around the supporting reeds; a 
large proportion of the building mate¬ 
rial, sometimes nearly all, consists of 
dead reed-heads. The nest is very 
deep, which is really necessary to save 
the eggs from falling out as the reeds 
are swayed and bent by the wind. 
Humming Birds at the Zoo. 
Much interest has been aroused of late 
by the arrival of a consignment of 
Humming Birds at the Zoo. A writer, 
describing the same, says: “ Huddled up 
on a twig, amongst bright flowers and 
dainty dishes of honey, beef-tea, and 
everything of the kind that might tempt 
tired travellers to eat and forget the 
sorrows of a long voyage, fourteen or 
fifteen little Humming Birds, just 
arrived from South America, are waiting 
in the insect house at the Zoo for the 
sun which refuses to shine—and, doubt¬ 
less, wonder very much where they have 
got to. There are several species 
amongst them, each with a scientific 
name, much longer than its body, but 
as they sit, travel-stained and tired, like 
small brown moths, in melancholy 
mood, even an expert has a difficulty in 
saying to what variety any special in¬ 
dividual belongs. Every now and then 
one starts up, and as it passes amongst 
the flower heads in the glass case, care¬ 
fully heated to a temperature of 70 deg., 
in which they are kept, the spectator 
catches a glimpse of emerald green 
sheen or a flash of purple or golden 
plumage as the tiny atom of feathered 
life explores the limits of the new dwell¬ 
ing, but the effort is soon expended, and 
all that can be said for the moment is 
that the only Humming Birds in Europe 
have safely arrived in Regent’s Park. 
It has been very unkind of the weather 
to receive them in March-like fashion, 
but the most lavish care is being taken 
of these brilliant little strangers, and it 
is hoped that when brighter skies come 
they will revive and settle down comfort¬ 
ably in the beautiful home that has been 
prepared for them amongst kindred birds 
and insects from the South American 
forests. 
Humour in Nesting. 
In the course of his birds’-nesting 
career the enthusiast will happen upon 
many curiosities. A year or two ago, 
for instance, a jocular Wren built her 
nest in the inside pocket of a game¬ 
keeper’s coat hung up in a Sussex 
garden as a scarecrow, and a pair of 
Robins in the same neighbourhood dis¬ 
played a taste for literature by establish¬ 
ing their home among some very learned 
volumes on a study book-shelf. The 
Thrush which built her nest in the fork 
of a cherry tree in an Eastbourne orchard 
—despite the fact that the tree was care¬ 
fully threaded all over with cotton to 
keep the birds from the fruit—displayed 
a keen sense of humour. But one of 
the young ones got entangled in the 
deadly threads, and the cat ate the 
remaining three—truly a terrible retribu¬ 
tion ! Not a stone’s throw away from 
this cherry tree was a crack in the wall 
on the open street—as public a place as 
you could very well find—but here a 
Blue-Tit made her home and hatched 
and reared a family of eight. Possibly 
the Hampshire Tit that made its nest in 
an empty straw “ super ” in a bee-house 
in the midst of a very lively row of hives 
deserves the palm for cool impertinence; 
but the cheeky suburban Sparrow which 
built in the corner of the glass surround¬ 
ing a Streep gas-jet, with only a piece 
of talc between the flame and the nest 
to save the situation, must receive credit 
for combining humour with the possi¬ 
bilities of artificial incubation. 
The Gold-Crested Wren. 
A Staffordshire correspondent writes: 
“■ It may interest some of your readers 
to know that one Saturday afternoon re¬ 
cently, when going by steamer from 
B 
