Part 17

Breeds chiefly in the Highlands of Scotland, and the islands lying to the west thereof. Its nest is merely a slight declivity lined with a few bits of dry grass, dead heather, or leaves. The eggs number four, of a stone colour or creamy-white, spotted and blotched dark reddish-brown and grey.

THE WHIMBREL.

The islands to the west and north of Scotland are the breeding home of the Whimbrel. A slight dry hollow in the shelter of a tussock of grass or heath is selected on some lonely piece of moor. The nest is lined with a few blades of withered grass, sprigs of heather, or dead leaves. The eggs number four, varying from darkish buff to olive-green, spotted and blotched with reddish-brown, olive-brown, and underlying markings of grey.

1. Wood Warbler. 2. Greenshank. 3. Sandwich Tern. 4. Reed Warbler. 5. Whimbrel. 6. Black Guillemot. 7. Garganey. 8. Red-breasted Merganser. 9. Bearded Tit. ]

THE REED WARBLER.

This bird suspends its nest between the stems of reeds and branches of willows and other trees growing from or over water. It is composed of sedge grass, reed leaves, moss, hair, and reed-down. It is found in the Southern and Eastern portions of England. The eggs number four or five, light greenish-blue or greenish-white, spotted, freckled, and clouded with greenish-brown or dark olive, and underlying markings of greyish-brown. The spots are generally most numerous round the larger end of the egg.

THE WOOD WARBLER.

Breeds sparingly throughout England and in Southern Scotland. Its nest is placed in tufts of coarse grass and other vegetation on the ground, and is composed of dry grass, leaves, and bits of moss, and lined with horsehair only. This feature will readily distinguish it from the nest of the Chiffchaff and Willow Wren, whose semi-domed structures it closely resembles in other respects. The eggs number from five to seven, white in ground colour, numerously spotted and freckled with purplish-brown and underlying markings of grey.

THE TWITE.

The Twite breeds on the moors in the North of England, Scotland, and in Ireland. Its nest is situated on or near the ground amongst heather or furze. It is composed of sprigs of heath, and lined with rootlets, wool, feathers, and hair. The eggs number four or five, sometimes six, and are similar to those of the Linnet, pale bluish-green, spotted, speckled, and streaked with purplish-red and reddish-brown. I have found several nests close together on a small rocky islet in the Highlands.

THE BEARDED TIT.

It is thought by some writers that the exceptionally hard weather we experienced last winter (1894-5) has extinguished this little bird in its last resort, the fens of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire; however, it is to be hoped that this is not the case. Its nest is composed of dead sedge and reed leaves, lined with grass and reed-down, and is situated near the ground in some large reed bed. The eggs number from four to seven, light brownish-white, sparingly marked with streaks and spots of dark brown.

THE ROSEATE TERN.

So rare a breeder with us has this bird become, that a celebrated authority recently included it in a work on British Birds' Nests only after some hesitation; but I am pleased to say that two pairs bred last year in one of their old haunts well-known to me. The nest is simply a hollow in the sand or shingle of a small rocky island, at no great height from the sea. The eggs number two or three, and exactly resemble in coloration and size those of the Common and Arctic Terns.

1. Fork-tailed Petrel. 2. Mute Swan. 3. Grey-lag Goose. 4. Fulmar Petrel. 5. Manx Shearwater. 6. Spotted Crake. 7. Black Grouse. ]

THE RINGED PLOVER.

This pretty little bird makes no nest in the proper sense of the word, although I have found a few pebbles and small shells used when a rocky place instead of a sandy beach has been chosen for breeding upon. Its nest is generally well above high-water-mark, amongst fine sand, shingle, or on bare rock round our coast, and on the shores of inland sheets of water. The eggs number four, and vary from pale buff to stone or cream colour, spotted and speckled all over with small brownish-black and underlying inky-grey marks.

THE MANX SHEARWATER.

The Manx Shearwater breeds on the western coasts of England and Scotland, in the Hebrides and islands to the north of Scotland; also in several parts of the Irish coast and the off-lying islands. Its nest is situated at the end of a deep burrow, which is generally dug by the bird itself. Some observers have reported it to consist of bits of grass and stalks, and others have found no attempt at all at nest-building in some of the burrows they have opened. It lays a single white, smooth egg.

THE PINTAIL DUCK.

This uncommon Duck breeds in one or two parts of Ireland and Scotland still, it is said on good authority. Its nest consists of rushes, sedge, dead grass, and tufts of dark brown down bearing white tips, and is placed amongst rushes and such other coarse vegetation as will afford the bird shelter. The eggs number from six to eight, or even ten, of a pale buff colour tinged with green.

LEACH'S FORK-TAILED PETREL.

The St. Kilda group of islands forms the principal British-breeding haunt of this bird, although colonies nest in the Hebrides and on the Blaskets off the Irish coast. The nest is situated at the end of a burrow made by the bird itself, or under rocks, and is composed of withered grass, moss, and lichens. Only one egg is laid, white in ground colour, with a belt of small brownish-red spots round the larger end.

THE RED-NECKED PHALAROPE.

A little withered grass or other herbage is used to line the depression selected by this bird for its nesting-place, which is situated on the ground in grassy swamps and marshes, near water as a rule, in the North of Scotland and some of the islands lying to the west and north thereof. Four eggs are laid, varying in ground colour from olive to pale buff, spotted, speckled, and blotched with varying shades of dark brown and underlying specks of light grey.

THE HOOPOE.

Although this bird has bred in different parts of England, its chances of doing so now are somewhat remote, on account of the merciless persecution it suffers at the hands of gunners. Its nest is situated in holes in trees, walls, or rocks, and is composed of bits of straws and dry grass. The eggs number from five to seven, and vary from light greenish-blue to pale buff, with minute pit marks over their surface.

1. Golden Oriole. 2. Shag. 3. Gadwall. 4. Willow Wren. 5. Richardson's Skua. 6. Marsh Warbler. 7. Goshawk. 8. Pintail. 9. Arctic Tern. 10. Blue-headed Wagtail. ]