A Chaffinch's Nest
The nest of a waterhen, a sort of raft of woven rushes, has beauty about it, and even the scrape of a plover, when the eggs are laid, is a delight; but for sheer artistic wonder I think the chaffinch's nest is without equal. It is built of moss and lichen, hair, feather and cobweb, so neatly put together as to be satisfying in itself, whether the bird has laid her eggs or forsaken the place. By comparlion the linnet is haphazard, and the result is a rather untidy collection of grass and hair without the symmetry of the chaffinch's nest. Stuck out on the branch of a thorn-tree or moulded to the trunk of an elm, the chaffinch-nest is a rounded cup made by a master architect. The schoolboy bird-nester cannot resist climbing to it. A feather sticking out and moving gently in the breeze attracts his attention,,or he looks up and becomes aware of the contrast of grey lichen and green moss. Often he finds it such a thing of beauty that he cannot resist bringing it down. I doubt whether any amount of teaching to the contrary would prevent this sad thing happening.
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