


ROCK AND WALL-BUILDING BIRDS. 
or Six in number, two inches in length and an inch and five- 
twelfths in diameter, of a dirty greenish brown, with thick 
blotches on the larger end, but with several important varia- 
tions, from a greenish grey with streaks of reddish brown, up 
to greenish brown in different eggs. 
The Strariine builds its nest early in May or towards the 
end of April, m the crevices of rocks, in caverns, in holes under 
grassy banks, in holes in a wall, or in the trunk of trees. It is 
a bulky structure, composed of grass and other plants, with a 
rough lining of hair and feathers. The eggs (fig. 24) are five 
or six, of an elongated oval form, of a delicate feeble greenish 
blue, and about an inch and a quarter long by three-quarters 
in diameter. 
The Repstart, like the starling, places its nest in the cavity 
of a wall or the trunk of a tree, in the chink of a rock, or 
among stones. The nest is bulky, composed of fibrous roots 
and moss, plentifully lined with hair and feathers; the eggs, 
six or seven, of an oval form, three-quarters of an inch long by 
half an inch in diameter, and of a light greenish-blue, and the 
favourite locality which it affects for nidification is the old wall 
of a garden. 
The Rine-Ovzet, on its arrival in April, betakes itself to the 
open hilly country, sheltermg itself in the furze and juniper 
bushes, if within its reach, in preference to any other. In this 
situation its nest is usually found; sometimes also under the 
face of a rough bank or in fragments of rock. It is composed 
of rough coarse grass, plastered internally with mud and lined 
with finer grasses. The eggs (fig. 30) are from four to six, of 
an oval form, about an inch long by over three-quarters 
in diameter, of a pale bluish green, freckled all over with pale 
brown. 
The red-backed shrike ButcHER-BIRD, or fly-catcher, as this 
bird is sometimes called, is common enough round London, 
and in the western counties, especially among the orchards of 
Gloucestershire. It frequents the margins of woods, thickets, 
and tall hedgerows, furze-covered commons, and open downs 
in the rorth as well as the south, bemg, in fact, very widely 
diffused. About the middle of May, 
When buttercups and daisies deck the ground, 
And blackbirds whistle clear, 
by the borders of some grassy meadow, ere the oak or the ash 
have yet unfolded their buds, when the apple-blossom and the 
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