HEDGE ACCENTOR, HEDGE SPARROW. 
97 
INCESSORES . SYL VIA DIE. 
EENTIROSTRES. 
HEDGE ACCENTOR, HEDGE SPARROW. 
Accentor modularis. 
PLATE XXVII. FIG. I. 
, This gentle, unobtrusive little bird, though neither bril¬ 
liant in plumage nor yet in song, has many claims upon 
our regards. There is no other species of bird, with the 
exception of the house sparrow, which is so much in our 
immediate neighbourhood the year round; and in the 
winter, when all the rest have become mute, except the 
robin and the wren, it ceases not to utter its monotonous, 
though agreeable notes. 
Every one must remember the bright blue egg which 
first caught his boyish fancy, and the pleasure he has 
derived from its discovery and possession. 
The Hedge Sparrow is one of our earliest breeders, 
and begins to lay its eggs in March or the beginning of 
April. 
The nest is usually placed in a garden or orchard 
fence, or that of the field adjoining, or in some bush in 
the garden ; sometimes in a furze-bush, or in ivy against 
a wall. I do not remember to have ever found one 
except near to some habitation. 
The nest is composed of pieces of stick, coarse grass, 
moss, and bits of wool, and is lined with hair. Sometimes 
it is built almost entirely of dry grass. 
In two instances I have seen the nest of this bird so 
imperfectly finished that the thorns were sticking through 
the inside, apparently very much to the discomfort of the 
old bird. The eggs are four or five in number. 
H 
