EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 203 



The nest is made of fine dry grass-stems, and is lined with a 

 few fibrous rootlets and a quantity of horse-hair. Although so 

 slight and loosely put together, the Whitethroat's nest is a very 

 pretty one, and may generally be distinguished from the nests of 

 allied birds by its greater depth. 



The eggs of the Whitethroat are from four to six in number. 

 Some specimens are bumsh-white, with most of the spots under- 

 lying, and violet-grey in colour ; others are pale bluish-white, 

 mottled, blotched and speckled with yellowish-brown, and with 

 large underlying spots of violet-grey; whilst others are pale green, 

 sparingly marked with olive-green. In some eggs the spots are 

 evenly distributed ; in others they form a zone round the larger 

 half of the egg ; and in others they are all confluent on the large 

 end, forming a round mass of colour. They measure from 0'8 to 

 0'65 inch in length, and from 06 to 0'5 inch in breadth. 



THE LESSEE WHITETHIiOAT. 



(Sylvia curruca.) 

 Plate 52, Fig, 20. 



In this country the bird is a somewhat local one, and becomes 

 very rare in the west of England and in Wales. It is found 

 nesting throughout Europe, Asia Minor and Palestine, extending 

 northwards somewhat beyond the Arctic circle, but not quite 

 to the limit of forest-growth. 



The nest is much shallower than that of the Common White- 

 throat, and is often made of coarser materials. It is usually 

 made of fine dry grass-stalks, amongst which the twigs that 

 support it are artfully interwoven. It is generally bound together 

 with spiders' webs or the cocoons of caterpillars, and lined with a 

 few fibrous rootlets and sometimes a little horse-hair. 



The eggs of the lesser Whitethroat are four or five in number, 

 and present in their variations two very distinct types. The first 

 type, and perhaps the commonest, is pure white or pale creamy- 

 white in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with rich greenish- 

 brown, and with underlying shell-markings of violet-grey. The 

 second type has the ground pale buff or stone-colour, and the 

 markings are not so bold and deep in colour. They are confined 

 for the most part to the large end of the egg, often forming a 



