EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



239 



In the majority of cases the nest is cup-shaped and is rather 

 loosely put together. It is made very similarly to that of the 

 House Sparrow, but is not, perhaps, so bulky, and does not 

 contain such an assortment of rubbish. It is usually made of 

 dry grass, straws and rootlets, lined with wool, feathers and 

 sometimes a little hair. 



The eggs of the Tree Sparrow are from four to six in number, 

 varying considerably in colour. The eggs in each clutch are 

 usually pretty uniform in colour, except one egg, which is 

 generally much lighter than the rest. These light-coloured eggs 

 may be the produce of the bird when its colour-producing powers 

 are getting exhausted. The eggs are bluish-white in ground- 

 colour ; but generally little of this can be seen, for the 

 surface-markings are distributed so finely and evenly over the 

 entire surface as to hide it. The markings vary from rich brown 

 to greyish and greenish-brown. On some eggs, especially those 

 which are more boldly and less evenly spotted, the underlying 

 markings are very large and violet-grey. Some eggs are streaked 

 with very dark brown, something like those of the Meadow Pipit. 

 They vary in length from 0-85 to 073 inch, and in breadth from 

 0'62 to 0-54 inch. Tree Sparrows' eggs very closely resemble 

 those of the House Sparrow, but are, on an average, smaller and 

 usually darker and redder. 



THE GEEEN FINCH. 

 (Fringilla chloris.) ' 



Plate 56, Fig. 13. 



The Greenfinch is a lover of well-cultivated districts, and in 

 such is commonly distributed throughout the British Islands. It 

 breeds throughout Europe, in Norway extending as far north as 

 lat. 65°, and in the Urals as far as lat. 60°. 



Few nests are prettier than that of a Greenfinch. It is not 

 so neat as the nest of a Goldfinch or Chaffinch; but its very 

 slovenliness is the secret of its beauty. The outside is made of 

 moss, dry grass and wool. 



The eggs of the Greenfinch are from four to six in number, and 

 vary from pale greenish-white to white, with the faintest tinge of 



* Liguvinus chloris— Saunders, Manual, p. 161. Chloris chloris— Sharpe, Handb., I.,p.81. 



