BBJTISH BIBDS' NESTS. 227 



Situation aitd Localit//. — In alders, willows, elms, 

 firs, liawtliorn, hazel and other trees and hushes, 

 generally pretty low down, but sometimes at a 

 considerable height. Occasionally it may be found 

 in a heather tuft. In shrubberies, coppices, planta- 

 tions, and bushes that fringe streams and ponds 

 in mountain districts. It has been found breeding 

 in nearly every county in England, but is most 

 numerous in the northern counties and in Scotland. 

 It breeds in Ireland most numerously in the north. 



Materials. — Fine twigs (used as a foundation), dry 

 grass, stalks, moss, and roots, wdth an inner lining of 

 willow down, sometimes hair and feathers. It is 

 cup-shaped, and, as a rule, a well made and beautiful 

 little structure. 



Eggs. — Four to six, generally five, of a very 

 pale bluish-green colour, spotted generally about the 

 larger end with orange-red, occasionally streaked 

 with a darker colour. There are also underlying 

 markings of pale greyish-brown. Size about '62 

 by --IC) in. The black chin and smaller size of the 

 parent birds, and their eggs, distinguish the nest of 

 this bird from that of the Linnet or Twite. 



Time. — May and June. 



Bemarls. — Resident in Scotland and the North 

 of England. A winter visitor further south, generally 

 speaking, though specimens have stayed and bred. 

 Notes : call, jjeeioit and Ireel-, Ixvech, Ucujid ! song 

 meagre but lively. Local and other names : Lesser 

 Redpoll Linnet, Lesser Red-headed Finch, Rose 

 Linnet. Sits very closely indeed. 



REDSHANK. 



Description of Pare/tt Birds. — Length about 

 eleven inches. Bill long, straight, slender, and 

 p 2 



