Page:Natural History, Birds.djvu/119

106 that in outlets about towns, where mosses, lichens, gossamer, &c., cannot be obtained, birds do not make nests so peculiar each to its species, as they do in the country. Thus the nest of the town Chaffinch has not that elegant appearance, nor is it so beautifully studded with lichens as those in the rural districts; and the Wren is obliged to construct its nest with straws and dry grasses, which do not give it that roundness and compactness so remarkable in the usual edifices of that little architect. The nest in question was not lined with feathers and spiders' webs, as is generally the case.

"I have myself discovered the Flycatcher's nest in very odd situations;—one behind a decayed piece of bark attached to an elm tree in Hampton-court Park, and another concealed amongst the ornaments of the beautiful iron gates of Hampton-court Gardens. In Mr. White's unpublished notes, he mentions a Flycatcher having built its nest in a very peculiar manner on a shelf fixed to the wall of an out-house, and behind the head of an old rake lying on the shelf. Indeed the bird would appear to have a partiality for the last mentioned implement, for in Loudon's 'Magazine of Natural History,' it is stated that a Flycatcher's nest was built upon a wooden rake lying on the ground in a cottage garden at Barnsford, near Worcester. In this nest the female laid eggs, and even sat on them, indifferent to any one passing in the garden."

"A curious circumstance," observes Mr. Yarrell, "in reference to this bird, has been noticed by Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq., the President