48 ) 



NESTING HABITS OBSERVED ABROAD OF SOME 

 RARE BRITISH BIRDS. 



BY 



F. C. SELOUS. 

 Part II. 



(Continued from page 27.) 

 IsABELLiJSiE Wheatear. Saxicolu isabeUina Riippell. 



During my visit to Asia Minor in the spring of 1899 I 

 saw several pairs of these birds on the level plain near the 

 Lake of Sakizbounou, and found one nest with yoiuig" 

 birds about a week old on May 13th. Two years later, in 

 the spring of 1901,1 found the Isabellme Wheatear quite 

 a common species on the plain through which the Meander 

 River runs, below the town of Sochia. 



On May 16tli of that year I found, by watching the 

 birds, two nests, one containing four very hard-set eggs, 

 besides an addled one, and the other three young birds a 

 few days old and two addled eggs. All three nests were 

 placed in the burrows of a small rodent, the entrances to 

 which were on the level ground. The nests were in each 

 case a considerable distance from the mouth of the 

 burrow — from four to five feet. The addled eggs which 

 I obtained are of a very pale blue colour, some shades 

 lighter than those of the common Wheatear (Saxicola 

 cenanthe), they are also considerably larger than the eggs 

 of that species. 



Blue-headed Wagtail. Motacilla flava. 



In the S23ring of 1899 I took six nests of this species at 

 a place called Szunyog, near Budapest. 



They were all placed in tussocks of grass, growing out 

 of the water, in what might be described as a flooded 

 meadow. A colony of Black Terns had built their floating 



