308 



in small bushes overgrown with rank grass, among coarse vegetation, 

 nettles, etc., in hedgerows and bramble thickets. Exceptionally cases 

 have been recorded of nests at a considerable height: one 12 ft. high 

 in a whitethorn and one 16 ft. high in an elder are mentioned in the 

 Zoologist for 1875 and 1876. The nest varies in the amount of mate- 

 rial used and is sometimes very slightly built, but always has a noticeably 

 deep cup. It is built chiefly though not entirely, by the male, and is 

 constructed of dry grasses and a few roots, well lined with horsehair 

 which is nearly always black, and strengthened with cobwebs and frag- 

 ments of down or wool. The male usually builds one or more incomplete 

 nests in addition to that actually used. Diameter of cup, 21 in.; depth 

 li— 2 in. 

 Eggs. Usually 4 or 5, sometimes 6 in number, but a clutch of 7 eggs of 



the pink type is said to have occurred in Yorkshire. Remarkable vari- 

 ations in colour occur at times. Typical eggs have a greenish or stone 

 coloured ground, and are finely speckled with ochreous and leaden spots 

 or blotches, but sometimes the brownish markings take the form of large 

 blotches and occasionally dark caps or zones are found, and their colour 

 ranges from oil green, olive, umber and ochreous to bluish black. The 

 scarce erythristic type has a pink or salmon coloured ground and is 

 marked with red -brown and grey spots, while among the more remark- 

 able varieties may be mentioned, (a) pure white, unmarked; (b) pale 

 bluish, unmarked; (c) bluish white, with a few ashy markings; and (d) 

 two wonderful sets in the Rey collection, not unlike Marsh Warblers' 

 eggs, blotched with dark brown and dark ash on a pale blue ground. 



Breeding In S. England nests may be found from the beginning of May, 



Season. ^jjQ^gjj generally later, while in the Midlands eggs are not laid till mid 

 May, often not till the last week. In Germany from May 7 — 10 to 

 the end of July (Rey) and apparently two broods are reared. Most of 

 our English birds are single brooded, though exceptionally eggs may be 

 found in July and even young in August. In Scandinavia the eggs are 

 usually laid early in June. Curiously enough the breeding season in the 

 Mediterranean Basin is not particularly early, and in Greece the eggs 

 are laid inMay and aboutMay 12 in Andalucia. Incubation lasts 11 — 12 days 

 as a rule, and the young remain about 11 days in the nest. Howard's obser- 

 vations on the habits of this species [Br. Warblers, pt. 4) should be 

 consulted. 



Measure- Avcragc of 100 cggs measurcd by Rey 18.1x;13.8, Max. 20.3x14.8 



and 18.2x15, Min. 16x13.2 and 17x12.6. Ban's average for 66 eggs 

 is 18.8x13.9. A dwarf egg measures 15x7 (R. H. Read). Average 

 weight of 14 full eggs, 1.905 g. (N. H. Foster). Rey gives the average 

 weight of blown eggs as 114 mg. and Bau as 113 mg. 



menta. 



