58 



ground, often under shelter of on upturned sod or in rough pasture, and 

 sometimes among ivy or creepers on walls and rocks. 



On the mainland it nests occasionally in trees in preference to the 



open moors, and in the Orkneys and Shetlands many nests are now built 



in gooseberry and elder bushes. Almost every kind of site is utilized 



occasionally in these islands, e. g. in walls, peat stacks, stone heaps, under 



boulders, in rabbit holes, haystacks, on ledges of cliffs, among young com 



or roots, even on cabbage stocks and inside a hollow turnip growing in a 



field! In Ireland Ussher has found nests in furze, and one has been 



recorded from under a tuft of rushes (Elhson). The nest is generally 



neatly built of dry grass, fibrous roots and stalks, with fine twigs of heather 



sometimes as a foundation and a little moss, and the lining consists generally 



of hair and wool, mth an occasional feather or two. Saxby found rabbit 



down Avoven into the lining in Shetland nests, and on one occasion large 



quill feathers (one 8 in. long) attached to the edge; while Macpherson records 



one lined with peat fibre. Inside diameter about 2 — 2^ in., depth 1^ in. 



Eggs. 5 — 6 in number as a rule, but Ussher has twice found clutches of 



7 in Ireland, and 4 eggs are sometimes found. They resemble those of 



the Linnet, but as a rule the underlying markings are few and there is 



a decided tendency to streaks instead of spots. Ground colour generally 



clear pale blue; the rather scanty spots or streaks are of very dark red 



brown, and generally towards the large end. Saxby found a set of pure 



white eggs in Unst. 



Breeding The Twitc is rather a late breeder, and in the north of England usually 



Season, jg^yg from the middle to the end of May, or early in June. In Scotland the 



breeding season is very similar, and in the Shetlands fresh eggs may be found 



from mid-May onwards. In Ireland it is rather earlier, and Ussher has taken 



fuU clutches in the first week of May. As fresh eggs have been found 



both in Ireland and the Shetlands in July and August, it is probable that 



a second brood is occasionally reared. The hen sits closely, and when 



flushed flits restlessly about the heather. 



Measure- Average size of 100 eggs from the British Isles (40 measured by 



ments. ^qj and 60 by the writer) 16.89 X 12.6 mm.. Max. 18.5 X 12.5 and 



17.2 X 13.7 mm., Min. 15.3 X 12.3 and 16.8 X 11.8 mm. Average weight 



(40 eggs) 73 nig. (Rey). 4 full eggs average 1.474 g. (Foster). A dwarf 



egg (Yorkshire, R. H. Read) measures 14.2 X 11-3 mm. 



[From Asia Minor and the Caucasus eastward a paler form is found, 

 C. flavirostris brevirostris (Moore). Clutches of 5 — 6 eggs from the Kuko- 

 . Noor measure 17 X 12.4 and 17.1 X 12.6 mm,, and resemble those of the 

 typical race (Hartert, Vog. Pal. Fauna, p. 77).] 



