EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 229 



The nest is usually placed in some crevice or hole in a rock, 

 sometimes at a considerable distance from the opening, where it 

 is absolutely impossible to obtain the eggs. It is made of sticks 

 and heather-stems, and lined with dry grass, roots and wool, 

 sometimes with hair. It is often a large structure, but, as is 

 usual with birds nesting in holes, seldom very compactly made. 



The eggs of the Chough are from three to six in number. They 

 range from creamy -white to greenish - white in ground-colour, 

 spotted with brown of various shades, and dashed with underlying- 

 markings of purplish -grey. They vary considerably as to the 

 amount of markings. Some specimens have a few dark streaks 

 upon them. They measure from 165 to 14 inch in length, and 

 from 1'15 to 1 inch in breadth. 



THE ALPINE CHOUGH. 



(Pyrrhocorax alpinus . ) 



Plate 55, Fig. 4. 



One specimen has been recorded from Oxfordshire, as having 

 been shot by a keeper at Broughton Castle, near Banbury. Al- 

 though the appearance of the bird bore no evidence of its having 

 been kept in confinement, some doubt must still attach to the 

 example in question ; for P. alpinus is not a migratory species, 

 and, further, it is a bird very likely to be imported into this 

 country. 



The Alpine Chough inhabits the mountains of Southern Europe, 

 and has much the same distribution as the Common Chough, and 

 I have found it breeding in the Parnassus. The egg has been 

 figured for the sake of comparison with that of the British species. 



THE NUTCBACKEK. 

 (Nucifraga caryocatactes.) 

 Plate 55, Fig. G. 

 The Nutcracker has very little claim to be considered a British 

 bird ; but as nearly a score of examples have been seen or obtained 

 in various parts of England and Scotland, it may be looked upon 

 as an irregular straggler to our islands during the autumn migra- 

 tion. It is essentially a forest bird, and is found in all suitable 



