140 BIRDS. 



passing mention. As an instance, I found one nesting 

 in a disused rat-trap whicli the gardener had pitched over 

 the hedge ; and in this dungeon, still occupied by a large 

 piece of dried bacon, a pair of robins reared four young 

 ones. A similar instance, in which a pair nested in an 

 old tin can, is quoted by Mr Barrett-Hamilton.^ The nest 

 is also found in holes of trees and old walls. In form 

 it varies little, the outside being of dead leaves, sometimes 

 wdth moss, the lining of hair or feathers. Eggs, 6 to 7, 

 I inch ; usually white or greyish, with numerous red spots. 

 I had three pure white. As a rule, the texture of the 

 shell is coarse and rough, but the creamy ^gg alluded to 

 above was highly polished. Two or three broods are 

 reared. 



Writers who must at any cost show that singing-birds 

 are invariably dressed in sober hues, are fond of describ- 

 *]srightin- ing both the Nightingale and the linnet as ex- 

 gale, tremely plain creatures. As a matter of fact, 

 the cock-linnet is, in the breeding season at any rate, a 

 handsome bird ; and it can hardly be denied that the 

 nightingale has a pleasing appearance, the brown and red 

 of the tail and upper parts contrasting sharply with the 

 dull white beneath. The distribution of this migratory 

 bird, which is with us, as a rule, from the 

 * " middle of April until the middle of September, 

 the males being the first to arrive, is regulated by suitable 

 conditions of climate and food, which are not easy to assign. 

 Thus, it has not yet occurred in either Scotland or Ireland, 

 and is extremely rare in Wales. Yorkshire is one of the 

 most northerly counties included in its range in these 

 islands, and it is unknown in West Devon and Cornwall. 

 Within a short radius, too, it may be capricious in its 

 fancies. Thus, taking the west of Hants, I have heard 

 numbers this year behind Poole, and again near Eingwood, 

 whereas in the apparently suitable (and strictly enclosed) 



1 Harrow Birds, p. 4. 



