. Birds and their nests and eggs : found in and near great towns . oes not leave the country in winter. The nest was, perhaps, a second one, as thebirds build very early (even in March), andrear two or more broods each year. Is itbecause the hedge-sparrow is so inoffensivethat the cuckoo takes special advantage ofit and lays its eggs in its nest ? We haveseen that the homely little robin can be a greatfighter with its own species, and it is saidthat the hedge-sparrow has also terrible con-tests with others of its kind. In both casesthe birds do not seem to fear evenly-matchedcombatants, which
. Birds and their nests and eggs : found in and near great towns . oes not leave the country in winter. The nest was, perhaps, a second one, as thebirds build very early (even in March), andrear two or more broods each year. Is itbecause the hedge-sparrow is so inoffensivethat the cuckoo takes special advantage ofit and lays its eggs in its nest ? We haveseen that the homely little robin can be a greatfighter with its own species, and it is saidthat the hedge-sparrow has also terrible con-tests with others of its kind. In both casesthe birds do not seem to fear evenly-matchedcombatants, which is only fair fighting. We carefully searched all the thickets,but did not come upon any more nests, andafterwards learned that some boys had beenseen in the garden from time to time, andthen we knew the reason. Before leaving Igot a nice photograph of the ivy-leavedclimbing snap-dragon, a good deal of whichgrew on the old walls. Packing up the camerawe wended our way to the little gate thathad given us entrance. We could not help MIDDLE OF MAY 117 ^■^y^^mrT ^.\1l%«*^. -^--HMw, m^m Plate XXXVI : Ivy-leaved climbing snapdragongrowing on an old brick wall (I size). remarking on the luxuriance of the. stalks reached eighteen leaves, showing well their lion-toothed ii8 DESERTED GARDEN—MIDDLE OF MAY edges (French, dent de lion) were quite afoot long. Some of last years teasles hadgrown ten feet high. Old flower stems of thetansy still standing measured four feet. Aswe passed out into the high road, an Italianhurdy-gurdy man ground out his old organ,adding to the babel of the traffic. It was agreat contrast to the quiet garden we hadjust left. We were much pleased with ourvisit to this secluded retreat, but disappointedat finding so few nests. What w^ould notthis garden have yielded had it been out inthe country ? But perhaps it would nothave yielded much, for boys are everywhere ! CHAPTER VII A VISIT TO POCHARD ISLAND—LAST WEEK IN MAY During a vis
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