142 TRANSACTIONS-PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 
and, long before the leaves are out to hide it, the nest of the Missel 
Thrush is placed in the fork of a tree, close to the public road; while 
the unmistakable signs of the House Sparrows’ homes are seen in the 
untidy tufts of hay hanging from the ivy wall. 
On the other hand, the Willow Wren weaves her bower of dry 
grass close to the ground, deep down among the herbage and ferns 
and wildflowers, defying the eyes of all but the keenest observer to 
detect it; and the Chaffinch, by imitating natural surroundings, 
matches the exterior of her lovely nest with the lichen, moss, and 
bark of the tree in which it is placed. Grebes and Wild Ducks 
on leaving their nests cover their eggs, the former with leaves, the 
latter with some of the down which composes the nest-lining. 
Nature seems to afford special protection to birds that breed on 
the ground, giving them eggs which harmonise in colour and mark¬ 
ings with their surroundings. How beautifully concealed are the 
little brown eggs of the Skylark as they lie in their cup of fine grass 
in a hollow of the fallow field ! And how difficult it is to distinguish 
the eggs and young of some of the Plovers and Terns from the sand 
and shingle on which they are placed ! there is no nest, but meiely 
a scratching in the ground. The eggs of Sandpipers and Curlews, 
which are found in depressions of turf or moss, have the appearance 
of being laid in the same casual manner, but these birds are in reality 
most careful nest-builders. After selecting the site, the herbage is 
systematically scratched away till the bare soil is exposed, the spot is 
then drained and prepared before the nest-lining of perfectly matched 
material is introduced, and some days elapse before the nest is con¬ 
sidered ready for the eggs; as incubation proceeds the surrounding 
vegetation quickly springs up, and the growing grass bends over and 
shelters the sitting bird. 
The foregoing notes only touch the fringe of a very engrossing 
subject, embracing, as it does, the most important period of the life- 
history of birds—their movements and distribution in the springtide, 
the choice of nesting sites, the construction of their nests, and the 
rearing of their young. 
In the study of this, as in that of all other branches of Natural 
History, we are constantly impressed with the wonderful vigour and 
freshness of Nature, and realize that while her changeless and irresis 
tible laws go on continuously, yet her action is always new, and the 
eternal purpose is again and again revived, and is implanted afresh 
in every individual of created life. Thus, we find young birds with 
previous knowledge building elaborate nests, coiresponding in 
every detail to the exact patterns of that in which they themselves 
were brought up, and in accordance with a design handed down 
through the long ages. 
