58 
CHAFFINCH. 
In the neighbourhood of Belfast, where there are ‘branches* 
of the cotton manufacture, these birds use that material in 
the construction of their nests; and in answer to the objection 
that its conspicuous colour would betray the presence of the 
nest, and not accord with the theory that birds assimilate 
the outward appearance of their structures to surrounding 
objects, it was replied, says Mr. Thompson, that, on the con¬ 
trary, the use of cotton in that locality might rather be 
considered as rendering the nest more difficult of detection, 
as the road-side hedges and neighbouring trees were always 
dotted with tufts of it. 
A correspondent in the ‘Field Naturalist’s Magazine’ gives 
an account of a pair of Chaffinches which built in a shrub, 
so close to the window of his sitting-room, that he was enabled 
to be a close observer of their ‘modus operandi,’ and its results. 
The foundation of the nest was laid on the 12th. of April; 
the female alone worked at the structure, and after unwearied 
diligence, completed her task in three weeks. Think of this, 
bird-nesters, and leave the artist the product of her toil; take 
gently out, if you will, an egg or two for your collection, 
but leave her some to gladden her maternal heart! The first 
egg, he continues, was laid on the 2nd. of May; four others 
were subsequently added, and the whole five were hatched on 
the 15th. of that month. During the whole of the time of 
incubation, neither the curiosity of the observer nor constant 
observation from the opened window disturbed the parent 
bird from her care, but she sat most patiently and courage¬ 
ously. The male bird often visited his partner, but it was 
not discovered whether he ever brought her food. Bewick 
says that the male bird is sedulously attentive to the female 
during the time of incubation. 
Archibald Hepburn, Esq., writes as follows in the ‘Zoologist,’ 
pages 572-3, dating from Whittingham, March 16th., 1844: 
■—‘About the end of April the first nest is built, and is usually 
composed of the following materials—moss, lichens, grass, and 
pieces of thread; and lined with feathers, wool, and hair; and 
out of these simple materials a most beautiful fabric is con¬ 
structed. It is placed in a variety of trees and bushes—the 
hawthorn hedge is a great favourite; and two wall pear trees 
in our garden are almost annually tenanted. One of the oldest 
circumstanees that I can recollect about birds is, that a pair 
of Chaffinches annually built their nest in an old pear tree 
till it was cut down about five years ago; and also that the 
