Part 13

Thick furze-bushes are the places chosen by this bird for its nesting-place on the commons of Kent and Surrey. The materials used are dead branches of furze, moss, and dry grass mixed with wool, and lined inside with finer dead grasses, the whole structure being loosely put together. The eggs number four or five, and are of a greenish, sometimes buffish, white ground speckled all over with dark or olive-brown and cinereous, which become more dense at the larger end and form a zone. The eggs are at times more numerously spotted than at others; then the markings are not so large.

THE POCHARD.

This bird breeds in the east and south of England, also in Scotland and Ireland, although it is much less numerous during the summer than the winter months. The position of its nest is similar to that of the Wild Duck, also the materials of which it is composed (dead grass and sedge, as well as down when the bird has begun to sit). Its eggs number from seven even to thirteen, but ten is the usual number laid, of a greenish-buff colour.

THE BLACK REDSTART.

This well-known visitor breeds in many parts of Europe and North Africa, building a nest very similar to that of the Robin, composed chiefly of twigs, straw, dried grass, &c., and situated in holes of walls and other positions similar to the above-mentioned bird. Five is the usual number of eggs; however, four only, or as many as six, are found, generally pure white in colour, occasionally tinged faintly with brown. Cases are recorded where they have been found spotted at the larger end with minute brown spots.

1. Spotted Fly-catcher. 2. Tree Sparrow. 3. Brambling. 4. Whinchat. 5. Scoter. 6. Grey Wagtail. 7. Smew. 8. Black-headed Bunting. 9. Great Spotted Woodpecker. ]

THE SPOTTED FLY-CATCHER.

Many curious positions for rearing a family have been chosen by the Spotted Fly-catcher, but its nest is generally found in trees which are trained against walls, barns, tool and summer houses. It is composed of a diversity of material, and no fixed rule seems to be adhered to--bents, straws, moss new and old, hairs, feathers, &c. The eggs number four, five, or even six, of a grey-white spotted with faint red; sometimes, but rarely, pale blue, unspotted. The ground colour varies from grey or bluish-white to pea-green, the markings also being in various shades, clouded, spotted, and blotched with faint red or reddish-brown.

THE TREE SPARROW.

Holes in pollard and other trees are chosen as desirable situations by this bird for perpetuating its race, and sometimes in the thatches of old barns along with the Common House Sparrow. Its nest is very similar to that of its more widely-distributed and better-known kinsman, viz., of hay, dry grass, and straw, with a liberal lining of nice warm feathers. The eggs generally number four or five, of a grey colour, thickly spotted with umber-brown or darker grey, sometimes white with grey spots or blotches, and may be described, like the Common Sparrow's, as variable.

THE BRAMBLING.

Scandinavia and other countries situated in high latitudes are the breeding haunts of this little bird, which builds a nest very similar to the Chaffinch. It is placed fourteen or twenty feet from the ground, in the fork of a branch shooting out from the trunk of a birch or spruce fir-tree, and composed of moss, lichens, bark, mixed with thistle-down, and lined with fine grass and feathers. Its eggs number from five to seven, similar to those of the Chaffinch, the ground colour being generally green, and the spots not so dark nor large.

THE WHINCHAT.

The nest of this bird is composed of grass and moss of different kinds, the stronger on the outside, and the finer forming a lining for the interior, and is situated on the ground in positions where it is by no means an easy task for the most veteran collector to find it. It lays five or six eggs of a delicate bluish-green, rarely speckled or marked with red-brown.

THE SCOTER.

The most northern counties of Scotland are the nesting-places of this bird, which gathers together such materials as twigs, grasses, dry stalks, and leaves, placing them under cover, or in hiding, afforded by the low-growing shrubs or plants, and lining the whole with down. The eggs number from six to ten, and are of a pale greyish-buff colour, sometimes slightly tinged with green.

THE GREY WAGTAIL.

Some naturalists describe the position of this bird's nest as on the ground; but, personally, I have generally found them in the niches of rocks, or under overhanging ledges or banks. The nest is composed of moss, bents, grass, horsehair, often lined with a coat of cow's-hair, which they rub off against walls and trees in the spring-time. This bird's eggs number five or six, and are of a grey colour, mottled and spotted with ochre-grey or brown, variable.

1. Rock Pipit. 2. Cormorant. 3. Creeper. 4. Turtle Dove. 5. Shore Lark. 6. Gannet. 7. Quail. 8. Oyster-catcher. 9. Cole Tit. ]

THE SMEW.

The nesting-place of this bird is in high latitudes, such as north-east Russia, and the situation chosen is in the hollow trunk of a tree. The material of which the nest is composed is taken from the bird's body, and consists entirely of down. Her eggs number from seven to eight, very similar to those of the Wigeon, creamy-white in colour, fine-grained, and rather glossy.

THE BLACK-HEADED BUNTING.

Moist swampy localities are chosen by this bird as the situation for its nest, which is composed of dried grass, moss, and an inner lining of finer grass, reed-down, or horsehair, and generally, though not always, placed on the ground, among rushes or coarse long grass. It lays four or five eggs of a pale reddish-brown or grey with a rosy tinge, streaked, veined, and spotted with brown of a rich dark purple shade.

THE GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER.

The position of the Woodpecker's nest is in the hollow trunk of some tree. A hole generally about two feet deep is chosen, but the parent bird does not seem to consider any attempt at nest-building in any way necessary. The eggs are laid on pieces of wood chipped off inside, and number four or five, white, occasionally stained or dyed by the material on which they are laid.

THE ROCK PIPIT.

Ledges or crevices of rocks near the sea-shore are the favourite building-places of this bird. It collects such materials as dry grasses of various kinds, and seaweed, with an inner lining of fine grass, and occasionally horsehair. Its eggs number four or five, of a grey ground colour, occasionally slightly tinged with green. The spots are variable in shade, being sometimes greyish-brown, at others reddish; the underlying ones are always light grey. The spots are small, and more crowded at the larger end.

THE CORMORANT.