"It is neither, sir," replied the keeper; "it is a bird, and there it is creeping about the bottom of that hedge like a mouse."
"Oh, I know what it is, it is a grasshopper warbler. Let us look for its nest."
They searched for quite a quarter of an hour before they found it. It was placed on the ground in the middle of a tuft of grass and at the foot of a bush. It was cup-shaped, made of grass and moss, and contained six eggs which were pinkish-white in colour, spotted all over with reddish-brown.
The note of this little bird seems to be of a ventriloquial character like that of the landrail or corncrake. I have searched many a time in the exact spot where the sound appeared to come from, and then perhaps discovered that the bird was on the other side of the lane.
Jimmy next found a nest on the ground. It was arched over like a wren's, and was very beautifully constructed out of moss, hair, and feathers. It contained five round white eggs spotted with red. In order to identify it more positively as that of the chiff-chaff, which they suspected it was, they watched for some time, and saw the bird, a little pale-brown thing, creep up to it and enter it.
I would particularly impress on my boy readers the necessity of thoroughly identifying the nest and eggs which they find. It is often impossible to tell accurately without seeing the old bird, and as the value of a collection depends upon the accuracy of its named specimens, no trouble should be spared in ensuring thorough identification. This remark applies to collections of every kind. "What is worth doing at all is worth doing well."
Chiff-Chaff.
The keeper said, pointing to some red, hairy masses on a bramble bush, "We call these robins' pincushions; can you tell me what causes them?"