68 THE BIRDS OF SHERWOOD FOREST. 
was not a solitary instance, for two years later, on May 
13, 1856, another nest was taken from the same hedge, 
near the place from which I had taken the previous one ;: 
it contained one egg, which was brought by the finder 
to me. A third nest was taken the next day at Oller- 
ton ; it was placed in the side of a cattle hovel, amongst 
the thorns with which the upright framework was inter- 
laced, and was constructed of dry grass only, and lined, 
as were the others, with hair. The second nest had 
moss mixed with the grass, like the first. 
My satisfaction at the discovery, so far as I am aware, 
of the first instancg of the blackstart breeding in England 
(for I perceive Mr. Newman does not include it as so 
doing in his recent Zoologist List), was all the greater 
from their being no possibility of the fact being con- 
tested, as in addition to my seeing the bird, its eggs can- 
not be mistaken for any others. Without possessing 
the least polish, they nevertheless have a very peculiar 
gloss, and are of the purest white, with an extremely 
delicate semi-transparent appearance, quite unlike those 
of any other British bird. 
From the circumstance of the two first-named nests 
being placed in the same hedge, I should infer that they 
were the work of the same pair of birds, and this pro- 
bability is of course increased in the case of a rare species. 
It is singular that their nests were placed in situa- 
tions so different from those authors describe as usually 
frequented by them. Bechstein, to whom the bird was 
well known, says :—“ They build in rocks and holes of 
walls, but especially in lofty old buildings, on timbers of 
roofs where the nest can stand alone on a beam without 
support.” No similarity to its native haunts could have 
tempted it to remain with us, for we have nothing in 
