188 EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



the Vistula or north of Holstein. South of the Alps it is found 

 throughout the year, its numbers being increased during winter, 

 when its range at that season extends as far south as Nubia. 



The nest of the Black Redstart resembles that of the Robin, 

 being a very large, loose structure outside ; inside it is extremely 

 round and neat. 



The usual nmnber of eggs is five ; sometimes only four are laid; 

 but six, and even seven, eggs have been recorded. The colour is 

 usually pure white ; but sometimes there is the faintest tinge of 

 brown, and a clutch in my collection from Altenkirchen shows the 

 faintest possible tinge of bluish-green. The eggs are very finely 

 grained, and the surface polished. In length they vary from 0'83 

 to 0"7 inch, and from - G to 0"5 inch in breadth. 



THE WHEATEAR. 

 (Saxicola wnanthe.) 



Plate 51, Fig. 9. 



The Wheatear is one of the first migrants to arrive in Britain 

 in early spring. Outside the British Islands the Wheatear's range 

 is exceeded by few other British Passerine birds. It breeds 

 throughout Central and Northern Europe. Westward its breed- 

 ing-range extends over Iceland as far as Greenland, Labrador, 

 and eastwards throughout northern Siberia, the mountains of 

 Persia and Syria, and beyond Bering Straits into Alaska. 



Far under a piece of rock, or in a crevice of a huge boulder, not 

 unfrequently in the holes of walls, or under a convenient earth- 

 clod on the fallow, are the usual situations chosen for the nest. It 

 will, when nesting on the sandy downs, take possession of a 

 deserted rabbit-burrow, or other suitable hole in the sandy soil. 



The eggs of the Wheatear are from four to seven in number, 

 but six seems to be the average clutch. They are pale greenish- 

 blue, elongated in form, and usually spotless. Occasionally, how- 

 ever, they are found with markings upon them, usually confined 

 to a few faint purplish specks on the larger end, sometimes so 

 indistinct and fine as to be scarcely perceptible, unless examined 

 closely. The eggs vary in length from 095 to 0'79 inch, and in 

 breadth from 0(55 to 06 inch. 



