EGGS AND EGG-COLLECTING. 79 
about seven to a dozen inches deep. I have found it quite 
close to London. No materials are used for the nest 
except chippings of dry wood detached in the construction 
of the hole. Eggs from five or six to eight, and even nine, 
white, without spots, and polished. 
J THE WILLOW WREN. 
Tue nest of the Willow Wren, or Willow Warbler, is 
situated on or near the ground im fields, orchards, woods, 
and almost everywhere. It is made of moss, bits of dried 
erass, occasionally fern-fronds or leaves, and is lined with 
feathers and hair. The eggs number from four or five to 
seven, and upon occasion I have found eight. They are 
white, spotted with reddish-brown. 
J THE SEDGE WARBLER. 
I HAVE found this bird’s nest amongst low bushes, tufts of 
tall, coarse grass, and amongst nettles; generally, though 
not always, near water. It is composed of grass-stems 
lined with finer grass, horsehair, and sometimes vegetable 
down in small quantities. The eggs number five or six, 
hight yellowish-brown tinged with blue, which is rarely seen 
on account of the closely-crowded yellowish-brown or 
buffish-brown markings. The eggs generally have a few 
streaks or lines of blackish-brown on the larger end. 
THE RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. 
Tir nest of this bird is found on the ground, concealed 
beneath rocks, or amongst the vegetation growing on the 
