218 EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



and the superfluous space is filled up with a quantity of fine 

 twigs, chiefly of beech and birch. Hound the edge of the nest 

 is artfully woven a series of the finest twigs, and the lining is 

 made of roots, grass, moss, and sometimes feathers. But the 

 chief characteristic of the Creeper's nest is the lining of fine 

 strips of inside bark which is probably invariably there. 



The eggs are from six to nine in number. They are, when 

 blown, pure white or creamy-white in ground colour, rather 

 richly marked with brownish-red spots, and with a few greyish 

 underlying markings. They differ considerably in the amount and 

 arrangement of the markings ; but it will usually be noticed that 

 all the eggs in one clutch are very similar. In some clutches the 

 spots are confined to a zone round the large end of the egg ; some 

 are very rich in colour, others pale. In other clutches the zone 

 is almost confluent ; whilst in others the markings are few, and 

 composed of very deep reddish-brown spots almost like those on 

 the egg of the Chiffchaff. They vary in length from 0'7 to 0"58, 

 and in breadth from 0'5 to 0"45 inch. 



THE WALL CEEEPEE. 

 ( Tichodroma muraria.) 



Plate 54, Fig. 6. 



The range of this species is a somewhat wide one, extending 

 across the Palaearctic region between lat. 30° and 50°, and just 

 entering the limits of the Oriental region in the Himalayas and 

 China. It is a rare and occasional visitor to Great Britain. 



The nest is placed in the crevices of the rocks, sometimes in 

 places quite inaccessible. A handsome nest of this bird in my 

 collection is very elaborately built. Its chief material is moss, 

 evidently gathered from the rocks and stones, intermingled with 

 a few grasses, and compactly felted together with hairs, wool, 

 and a few feathers. The lining is almost exclusively composed 

 of wool and hair, very thickly and densely felted together. 



The eggs of the Wall Creeper are from three to five in number, 

 and are white in ground-colour, very finely freckled near the 

 large end with reddish-brown, and with numerous minute violet- 

 grey underlying spots. They vary from 0'8 to 0"75 inch in length, 

 and from 06 to 0'52 inch in breadth. 



