returning in April, but in mild winters many individuals remain. The 

 neat compact nest of moss, fine twigs and roots, lined with down, 

 feathers or hair, is usually formed about the middle of May, in the 

 fork of a tree or more seldom in a hedge. The eggs, four to six in 

 number, are greenish white, spotted and streaked with purplish-brown 

 (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, drawer 4). Two broods are produced 

 in a year. 



Case 117. 



SISKIN {Cardnclis spinus). 

 Local name : Aberdevine. 



Known principally in England and Ireland as a winter visitor, but 

 it breeds regularly in many parts of Scotland. The nest is very difficult 

 to find, being usually placed in the fork of a horizontal branch of a pine 

 tree, some distance from the stem, and a considerable height above 

 the ground. Five or six eggs (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, drawer 4) 

 are laid for one sitting, and two broods are generally reared in a season, 

 the first leaving the nest early in May. 



Case 118. 



WOOD-LARK [Alauda arborea). 



A decidedly local species, more plentiful in the southern counties 

 of England, and decreasing in numbers towards the north, though it 

 has been recorded as breeding in Scotland. It is resident in Ireland 

 in a few places only. As its name implies it is a more woodland bird 

 than the sky-lark, frequenting the neighbourhood of woods and 

 plantations, and always affecting trees. Its nest is placed on the 

 ground and skilfully concealed under a tuft of herbage or a small bush. 

 It is composed of dry grass and fine rootlets, lined with finer grass and 

 a little hair, and is more finely put together than the nest of the sky-lark. 

 The eggs are four to five in number (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, 

 drawer 6), and have a white or reddish-white ground colour, numerously 

 dotted with fine reddish-brown and grey spots. 



Case 119. 



NIGHTINGALE {DauUas luscinia). 



This noted songster is generally distributed, from the beginning of 

 April till September, over the greater part of England, but is rare in 

 the northern and western counties, and in Wales. It has been recorded 

 in Cheshire, but is of doubtful occurrence in Lancashire. Its favourite 

 resorts are small woods and coppices in the neighbourhood of water 

 and damp meadows, and, till the young are hatched in June, its well 

 known song can be heard at almost any hour of the day or night. The 



