Proci'c'ilinf/s. 37 



A pair of Nightingales were ' ' churriug ' ' in the same 

 hedgerow. They evidently were uneasy at our presence, but 

 we could not find the nest, which most likely was carefully 

 hidden under brushwood in the very thickest part of the 

 cover. Nightingales largely employ oak- leaves in building 

 their nests. The eggs are olive-green or olive-brown, almost 

 the same colour as Partridges'. 



We now turned down the lane leading southward from the 

 hill to Eeigate Heath. In the hedgerow we noticed several 

 plants of the true Hemlock, growing four or five feet high. 

 The leaves are specially graceful and fern-like, and the stem 

 is spotted with purple spots. The whole plant is a deadly 

 poison. In one of the valleys behind Box Hill the Hemlock 

 attains a height of seven feet. 



In a crack in the brickwork of an old lime-kiln on the 

 right of the lane a Blue Tit had built a nest and laid seven 



A damp copse just below the old kiln resounded with the 

 notes of the Sedge Warbler, a bird which has great variety 

 without having much richness of song. It often breaks off 

 into a strange, grating noise, but all along seems to tell of 

 buoyancy of spirits and vivacity. 



We were greatly delighted at finding the Crimson Vetchling 

 by the side of a small pond in a field to the east of the lane. 

 Its pea-like blossoms are of a deep crimson colour ; the 

 leaves are grass-like. It is not a common plant round 

 Eeigate. 



After passing under the railway, we paused for a few 

 moments to watch the three species of Swallow circling over 

 the surface of a pond on the roadside. The small mouse- 

 coloured Sand Martins excelled at wheeling sharply round, 

 and surpassed both the Swallow and Martin in the rapidity 

 of their flights. The distinguishing points of each were 

 well observed. We knew the Martins by their white, upper 

 tail-coverts; the Swallows by their chestnut throats and 

 deeply-forked swallow-tails : the Sand Martins, by their small 

 size and plain drab backs. 



Soon the sands of Eeigate Heath were reached, the chalk 



