160 
PAROLE. 
where a considerable number of birds have had the same 
nest in common. In one instance there were nine, and 
I found the nest whilst the birds were lining it with 
feathers, and if I remember rightly, most of them were 
engaged in conveying the feathers. During the time of 
incubation two usually sat on the eggs, the number of 
which I never discovered, for fear of disturbing the nest, 
which was built in a very singular position, being placed 
in the fork of a large oak tree. I assisted in capturing 
five of the parent birds, belonging to another nest, whilst 
feeding their young, and two or more were left behind.” 
The nest of this species is placed most frequently, 
perhaps, in the centre of a thick bush, not uncommonly 
in whin or furze. I have seen it, however, in a very 
different situation, far from the ground, upon the main 
branches of the oak; and I suspect that it might be 
more frequently met with there than elsewhere, were it 
not from the great difficulty in discovering it. 
In each of the instances in which I have found it, it 
was by having my attention directed to the spot by the 
frequent flight of the birds in that direction, and so 
closely did the nest resemble a portion of the tree, that 
it was not detected till I had seen the birds go inside; 
upon climbing to the spot I found that the nest was 
built upon one of the main boughs which the base of it 
partly spanned, without any support from the smaller 
branches. 
