70 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



grass, strips of bark and roots, felted together and 

 cemented with cocoons, thistle-down, wool, and flakes 

 of lichen, and lined with fine round grass stems and 

 horsehair. The bird is a close sitter, and when dis- 

 turbed glides up and down the cover in a restless 

 manner, uttering a shrill tec of alarm and remonstrance, 

 often in company with its mate. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Icterine Warbler are from four to six 

 in number, five being the usual clutch. They vary in 

 ground colour from grayish-pink to pink with a brownish 

 cast, spotted over the entire surface, and occasionally 

 streaked with dark blackish-brown, and with indistinct 

 underlying markings of paler brown. One type has 

 numerous fine streaks of paler brown ; another has the 

 spots small and dusted over the surface. Average 

 measurement, 72 inch in length, by '55 inch in breadth. 

 Incubation, performed chiefly by the female, lasts four- 

 teen days. 



Diagnostic characters : The rose-pink ground 

 colour is a reliable character to distinguish the eggs of 

 the Icterine Warbler from those of most other species. 

 I do not, however, find any reliable character to distin- 

 guish them from those of the nearly allied Hypolais 

 polyglotta. They require careful identification and reliable 

 authentication. 



