Nests cf the 
Common. 
(79) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
Nests of the Coixvrrvor^. 
An Interesting Account of the Nesting of Birds 
on a Southern Common. 
The first things that catch the eye as we 
step on to the common are the stunted 
bushes of the whitethorn sprinkled over 
the large expanse of waste land The 
cold rude breath of the winter’s wind 
has done its best to decimate these 
denizens of no man’s land, but has 
signally failed. True, it has sorely 
tried them, dwarfed and crippled them, 
but it has been powerless to do them to 
death. Every spring they come out 
again smiling, the May-blossom opening 
to welcome the Cuckoo and to add a 
charm to the common which is welcome. 
True, we have the golden gorse, and 
the delicate fronds of the bracken 
rapidly expanding, but we are all glad 
when “ Maying time ” comes, for then 
the country is seen at its best. 
The Bushes not Used. 
At first sight it strikes one as peculiar 
that these bushes are not used freely 
by birds as nesting sites, but it must 
be remembered that the majority of the 
birds frequenting the common are 
ground-nesting birds. Now and again 
we find that the Blackbird has taken a 
fancy to the bush for its nest, but it 
more often builds in the gorse on the 
edge of the common and close to the 
adjoining meadows, where it can easily 
obtain its supply of food. 
One of the earliest birds that we 
meet with on the common, and which 
heralds our approach as it flings itself 
in every direction with loud cries of 
“ Peewit,” is the Green Plover or Lap¬ 
wing. The birds, although frequenting 
the common, do not as a rule use it for 
the nest, preferring some old fallow 
land or rushy ground adjoining, but now 
and again (says the “ Bristol Times 
and Mirror”), we blunder across a nest, 
and when walking over the place in the 
winter or early spring we have met with 
belated egg shells which plainly indi¬ 
cate that our sight was not as good as 
it should have been in the previous 
spring ■ we unselfishly, however, con¬ 
gratulate the farmer adjacent on having 
secured four or five valuable allies. 
An Tarty Migrant. 
On the larger open lands such as the 
common one of the earliest migratory 
birds we find is the Wheatear. The 
males precede the arrival of the females. 
On the arrival of the latter the building 
of the nest is pushed on apace. Wher¬ 
ever the nest is built it is in a well- 
sheltered situation, and very difficult to 
the uninitiated to find. But, like the 
Kingfisher, the bird has the unfortunate 
habit of betraying the site by the drop¬ 
pings around, so that what would other¬ 
wise be a sealed nest is absolutely given 
away. A rabbit burrow is frequently 
resorted to, and the eggs, pale blue, are 
deposited in a loosely-made structure 
of dry grass and roots lined with hair, 
fur, wool, and feathers. 
A Victim of / he Cuckoo. 
We pass from the Wheatear to one 
of the commonest and best-known in¬ 
habitants of the upland, viz., the 
Meadow Pipit. This unobtrusive 
denizen of the common reminds us a 
great deal of the little Hedge Accentor, 
in that it goes about its business in its 
own quiet way, and never attempts to 
interfere with that of its neighbours. 
But in the case of both birds, they are 
often sadly interfered with by that 
interloper, the Cuckoo. The Meadow 
Pipit is a fairly early nester, the nest, 
built on the ground, being often met 
with in April; it is consequently ready 
to receive the egg of the Cuckoo by the 
