84 EGGS AND EQa^COLLECTIXG. 



LEACH'S FORK-TAILED PETREL. 



The St. Kilda group o£ islands forms the principal British 

 breeding haunt of this bird, although colonies nest in the 

 Hebrides and on the Blaskets off the Irish coast. The nest 

 is situated at tlie end of a burrow made by the bird itself, 

 or under rocks, and is composed of withered grass, moss, 

 and lichens. Onl}^ one egg is laid, white in ground colour, 

 with a belt of small brownish-red spots round the larger 

 end. 



THE RED-NECKED PHALARORE. 



A LITTLE withered grass or other herbage is used to line the 

 depression selected by this bird for its nesting place, which 

 is situated on the ground in grassy swamps and marshes, 

 near water as a rule, in the North of Scotland and some of 

 the islands lying to the west and north thereof. Four 

 eggs are laid, varying in ground colour from olive to pale 

 buff, spotted, speckled, and blotched with varying shades 

 of dark brown and underlying specks of light grey. 



THE HOOPOE. 



Although this bird has bred in different parts of England, 

 its chances of doing so now are somewhat remote, on 

 account of the merciless persecution it suffers at the hands 

 jf gunners. Its nest is situated in holes in trees, walls, or 

 rocks, and is composed of bits of straws and dry grass. 

 The eggs number from five to seven, and vary from light 

 greenish-blue to pale buff*, with minute pitmarks over their 

 surface. 



