157 



Usually placed among the thickest herbage in mowing grass or pastures, Nest. 

 but sometimes also in cornfields, when it is necessarily much more exposed. 

 It is sometimes placed beside a bank in Ireland, or at the foot of a wall, 

 but all the nests which I have seen were built in the open, though generally 

 well concealed by grass. In Sealand it has been known to breed in 

 strawberry and cabbage fields (Cummings). In cornfields the nest is some- 

 times so low in a hoUow that the back of the sitting bird is below the 

 level of the surrounding ground. The birds are wary, but their evident 

 anxiety discloses the approximate position of the nest, and the hen will 

 after a few tentative flights, drop on to the nest, and sits closely on being 

 walked up. As a rule these birds do not breed close to one another, though 

 two or three pairs may be found in the same field. Newton however 

 records an exceptional case where 3 or 4 nests were placed within a few 

 yards of one another annually near Thetford. Most nests are built of 

 bents and roots, with sometimes a little moss, and lined with finer grasses 

 and horsehair. Occasionally a little wool is also introduced, and Hewitson 

 records two nests, one lined with rabbit down and the other without any hair 

 in a lining of fine roots. Diameter of cup, 2^ — 2|^ in., depth, 1-^- — 1-|- in. 

 It is not uncommon to find a thistle or other conspicuous plant in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of the nest; and though most nests are found 

 near rivers and lakes, it may be found breeding on hillsides far away from 

 the nearest stream. 



Generally 5 — 6 in number, but clutches of 4 eggs have been found Eggs. 

 incubated, and 7 are occasionally met with in Norfolk, while Norgate has 

 one set of 8. The greyish white ground colour is almost obscured by fine 

 mottling of ochreous brown, while many eggs show a blackish hair streak 

 at the big end. In some cases the colour may be described as uniform 

 greyish olive, and exceptionally almost white eggs have been found. There 

 is generally a great similarity in colouring to the eggs of the Sedge 

 Warbler, and some varieties are barely distinguishable from those of the 

 Grey Wagtail. 



The usual nesting time in the S. of England is from the second week Breeding 

 of May to the beginning of June, but exceptionally a full clutch may be 

 taken towards the end of April.* In the midlands and N. the usual time 

 is during the last week of May or the first fortnight of June: and as a 

 rule it is certainly not double brooded, as stated by Dixon and others, 

 though it is probable that a second brood is occasionally reared in the S., 

 as fresh eggs have been found at the end of June and even in early July. 



Average size of 100 eggs measured by the writer, 19.01 X 14.15 mm., Measure- 

 Max. 21.5 X 14 and 20.1 X 15.2 mm., Min. 16.9 X 12.7 (Rey coll.) and '"'"*'• 



* Eggs have also been found in Lancashire on April 26, a month earlier 

 than the usual date (F. S. Mitchell). 



