168 
MISSEL THEITSTL 
beginning of the year; even in January, in some seasons, in 
the southern counties, and in February and March in the 
more northern ones. The male bird ceases his song while 
the nest is being made, and during the incubation of the 
eggs, nor is it again heard till the following year, unless 
indeed the hen or the young be destroyed, in which case it 
is resumed or continued. The song is continuous, lasting 
from two to five minutes at a time; a pause then intervenes 
of longer or shorter duration, generally of two or three 
minutes, after which it is again taken up. In one instance 
it has been heard for fully ten minutes without cessation. 
Perched on the topmost bough of some tall tree that quivers 
to the blast, and heralding, or bidding as it were defiance 
to the boding gale of wind, the Storm-cock whistles his 
wonted lay, and gains from the observant countryman his 
well-earned name. Other birds retire ‘with bated breath’ to 
the shelter of the lowly grove, or the humble hedge, but he 
braves the tempest out, and sings his song with iEolus 
himself. This species has sometimes been heard to sing when 
on the wing, but this is not its usual practice. Its ordinary 
note is a harsh scream, which when flying off after being 
disturbed, it is often heard to utter, as well as when attacking 
some other bird. 
Preparations for the nest begin very early. Building has 
been observed to have been commenced on the 3rd. and the 
5th. of April, and nests with eggs have been found on the 
6th. and 7th. of that month, as also at the same place so 
late as the 26th. of May in the same year. 
The nest, which is a loose structure, is a compilation of 
twigs, small sticks, straws, grasses, leaves, lichens, wool, or 
mosses, compacted inwardly with mud, mixed with grasses 
and small roots, and lined with finer grasses, roots, and moss, 
frequently with grass alone; sometimes the outside is partly 
covered with lichens and mosses. The width is about four 
inches and a half, the depth two and three fourths, and the 
thickness of the sides an inch and three quarters. Mr. 
Hewitson mentions one nest of which the foundation was of 
mud, strongly cemented to, and nearly encircling the branches 
between which it was fixed. It is often placed in very 
exposed situations in the hollow caused by the divergence of 
the branches from the trunk, at a height of ten or fifteen 
feet from the ground, but nevertheless the erection of it has 
ofttii not been observed until after it has been fully completed. 
