338 BBITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



willow and alder-fringed streams wliilst trout-fishing, 

 and have often sat and w^atched the hen hop about 

 restlessl}^, and after a great deal of timid hesitation, 

 re-enter her nest. I w^as shown two nests in West- 

 moreland during June, 1894, in holes in walls. 

 One was at least three feet from the ground and 

 the other about a couple, not reckoning a high 

 bank u^ion which the wall stood. Throughout the 

 British Isles, wherever trees and bushes are to be 

 found in sufficient quantities. Our illustration is 

 from a pliotograph taken in a Yorkshire dale. The 

 front of the nest was opened so as to show the 

 eggs inside. 



Materials. — Dead grass, moss, dead fern-fronds 

 and leaves, lined with horsehair, cowhair, and 

 liberal quantities of feathers. It is dome-shaped, 

 with a hole in front wdiicli is somewhat larger 

 than that of tlie Chiffchaff. 



Eggs. — Four to eight, generally six to seven ; 

 wdiite, spotted variably with pale rusty-red. Some- 

 times the spots are small and scattered pretty 

 evenly over the surface ; at others they are larger, 

 less numerous, and more thickly congregated round 

 the larger end. Pure white and unspotted specimens 

 have been met with. The pale rusty-red markings 

 distinguish the eggs of this bird from those of the 

 Wood Wren and Chiffchaff. Size about -64 by 

 •47 in. 



Time. — April, May, June, and July, although 

 the last-named month is late. I once found a bird 

 sitting on eggs as late as the 4th of August. 



HemarJcs. — Migratory, arriving in March and 

 April, and departing in August and September 

 according to some authorities, and October accord- 

 ing to others. Specimens have been seen during 

 the winter in the southern counties of Engfland. 



