tiaental- 

 Europe 



170 



breeding with M. a. lugitbris have also been recorded from Norfolk, 

 Suffolk, Oxon, Hants, and Cumberland. 

 Con- In Iceland this is a tolerably common bird, and is generally to be 



found in the neighbourhood of houses. It has been recorded also from 

 S. Greenland and Jan Mayen, but is not known to have bred there. 

 It is believed to have nested occasionally on the Faeroes, but is chiefly 

 known there as a passing migrant. Over the whole of the European 

 continent it is very generally distributed, avoiding only the forest dis- 

 tricts and the mountain tops beyond the limits of human habitation. 

 Northward it is found in Norway up to the N. Cape, and in Russia 

 along the Murman coast and the shores of the Arctic Ocean, breeding 

 near every group of Lapp huts. Probably it nests also on Kolguev, but 

 is absent from Novaya Zemlya. E. of the Urals it is replaced by other 

 forms. In Switzerland it is found in the mountains up to about 6000 ft., 

 as well as in the plains. In the Iberian peninsula it is abundant in the 

 N. but has only been recorded once or twice as' breeding in the southern 

 provinces. It was not observed during the breeding season in Corsica 

 or Sardinia by Whitehead, Wharton or Brooke, but some remain to nest 

 in Italy, although a large proportion are winter visitors only. In the 

 Balkan peninsula it is found as far south as the mountain ranges of 

 Greece, and has bred at Naxos, in the Cyclades. It is also numerous 

 in S. Russia and the Crimea. [In the E. Mediterranean Stenhouse found a 

 pair breeding off the Syrian coast, while Tristram took the nest in 

 Galilee, and Kriiper states that it is common in Asia Minor. Some 

 appear to remain in Egypt throughout the summer.] 



In breeding habits it closely resembles M. alba lugubris, and is 

 quite as variable in its choice of a nesting site. Holes in banks, walls, 

 or trees and wood stacks are perhaps the most favoured spots, but in 

 the sand dunes of Holland it breeds under shelter of a clump of marram 

 grass, and has also been recorded as nesting in Sand Martins' holes, on 

 a strawberry bed, in an old hulk in harbour, in a waggon, on pollarded 

 willows, in crevices of rocks, under eaves of houses, in an old Fieldfare's or 

 Thrush's nest, and in a nesting box in Lapland etc. The nest also resembles 

 that of the preceding race, but the lining material varies according to the 

 locality. Thus in N. Russia Seebohm found Reindeer hair and spiders' 

 cocoons, while in Iceland pony hair or feathers, and on the Continent, 

 wool, cow, goat or horse hair, pigs' bristles and feathers are all utilized. 



Usually 5 or 6 in number, rarely 7, while 8 have occasionally 

 been recorded for the first brood: the second consisting of 4 or 5. They 

 are said to be a trifle bluer in tint in a series when compared with 

 those of M. alba lugubris, but are practically undistinguishable. Some 

 eggs show a dark hair line at the big end, and an egg from Holland 



