EGGS AND EGG-COLLECTING. 25 
/ THE HOUSE SPARROW. 
Tuts familiar little bird builds her nest in the walls of old 
stone houses, at the back of spouting, and amongst ivy. 
It is particularly fond of ejecting the Martin from her 
earefully-built home, and has been even known to turn 
out the eggs of this little harmless bird. She lays five or 
six eggs, of adirty white, covered with black or dark 
brown spots. 
¥ THE JACKDAW. 
Tue Jackdaw builds her nest in towers of churches, the 
ruins of old castles and abbeys, rocks, hollow trees, and 
chalk pits. It is made of sticks, straw, and hay, with an 
inner lining of large feathers, hair, and wool. The eggs, 
numbering from three to six, are a pale green-blue, spotted 
with dingy brown; the spots are confluent at the larger 
or thicker end. 
THE COMMON GROUSE. 
THE Grouse lays on an average about nine eggs; as many as 
fifteen have been found, but this number has been by some 
attributed to two birds, as they will sometimes build (if we 
may term it such) within a yard of each other. Their nests 
merely consist of a little hollow scratched out, and lined 
with heather or bent. The eggs are of a dirty white colour, 
covered with umber-brown spots. Both the old birds are 
very cunning in trying to decoy the intruder away from 
the whereabouts of the nest, feigning lameness or injury. 
THE KESTREL. 
Tue Kestrel lays four to seven eggs of a dirty white, some- 
times with a bluish tinge, thickly covered with reddish- 
