WARBLERS. 
5°3 
coverts tipped with white; the throat white spotted with black ; and the breast and 
under tail-coverts dark grey, shading into rich chestnut upon the flanks. 
Although generally nesting in the vicinity of dwelling-houses, 
' the hedge-sparrow {A. modularis), which is very widely distributed 
in Europe, may be found in Spain living far away in the depths of the forest. Its 
cheery song is often uttered from the top of a small shrub or spray of hawthorn ; 
and, as it is an early breeder, its eggs are often laid before the leaves of the hedges 
have sufficiently expanded to save them from being chilled by heavy showers of 
rain. The nest, built of fine roots and moss, is placed in the shelter of a hedge on 
a bank, under a hawthorn bush, or in the side of an ivied wall, and generally 
contains four or five blue unspotted eggs. The young when first hatched 
are invested with black down, but they feather rapidly. In the Hebrides, the 
hedge-sparrow nests in the sides of burns, adapting its existence to a moorland 
life. During the winter - time, this bird obtains most of its subsistence in 
gardens, and may often be seen stealing in and out among the growing plants like 
(A. collaris ) inhabits the Pyrenees and Alps, occasionally wandering far from 
its usual haunts, and reaching the British Islands and Heligoland. It begins to 
build in May; the nest is round, somewhat shallow, fairly compact, and composed 
mainly of dry grass stems and very small pieces of moss, the inside being lined 
entirely with the same kind of moss and the small white feathers of the ptarmigan. 
The eggs are light greenish blue and unspotted. The adult male has the head and 
neck grey; the upper-parts are dark brown with light brown edges; the wing- 
HEDGE-SPARROIV AND ALPINE ACCENTOR (§ Uat. size). 
