154 BRITISH BIRDS. 



sits on the topmost twigs of a birch tree, and the song 

 is often continued until after midnight. 



Most of the nests had young from June 20th onward, 

 but one I discovered on this day contained six eggs, 

 much incubated. On July 7th, however, I came across 

 a nest containing only one egg freshly laid ; evidently 

 this was a second brood. 



The Redwing at Abisko builds higher up the trees 

 than the Fieldfare, many nests being fifteen to twenty 

 feet from the ground. The nest is not so conspicuous 

 as that of the other species, its smaller size helping it in 

 this respect ; but there is a certain attempt to make it 

 fit with its surroundings, whereas the Fieldfare's nesfc 

 is usually so placed that it looks like a great wen standing 

 out from the tree or sitting on a bare branch. 



Bramblings (Fringilla montifringilla) were abundant 

 at Abisko. They were nesting to a certain extent 

 gregariously, that is to sa}^ haK-a-dozen or a dozen pairs, 

 with a space of perhaps a dozen or twenty j^ards between 

 each nest. Outside these small colonies there would 

 not be other pairs breeding for a distance of some hundreds 

 of yards. The nests were invariably placed in the main 

 fork of a birch tree at a height of from eight to fifteen 

 feet above the ground. The clutches of all examined 

 consisted of five or six eggs, about the same number 

 of each. In the first nest found the clutch was com- 

 pleted on June 23rd, and by the end of the month 

 in all the nests I discovered, the hens were incubating. 

 In one nest the five eggs were the scarce blue variety : 

 this is very different from the normal Brambling's egg 

 and closely resembles that of the Bullfinch. The Rev. 

 F. C. R. Jourdain, however, has identified them as 

 belonging to this species. The nest resembles that of 

 a Chaffinch, but is somewhat larger, and not so neat ; 

 it is formed outside of moss, and lined with feathers 

 and reindeer's hair. The notes of both male and female 

 at the nest were similar, and consisted of (1) a note 

 somewhat resembling the " pink, pink " of a Chaffinch, 



