BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 19 



procurable. The same nest is said to be used more 

 than once. 



Eggs. Four to eight, more often four to six ; 

 ground-colour greenish- or bluish-white, sometimes 

 greyish-white, pale bluish-grey, or pale greenish- 

 blue, spotted, splashed, and streaked with deep 

 brownish-red, and a few spots and streaks of a 

 darker tint on the top of these ; occasionally under- 

 lying markings of pale grey or yellowish-brown. 

 Size about .86 by .64 in. (See Plate II.) 



Time. May, June, and July. 



Remarks. A winter visitor, a few pairs resident. 

 Notes : sweet and tinkling. Local names : Snow 

 Flake, Snow Fleck, Snow Fowl, Tawny Bunting, 

 Greater Brambling, Lesser Mountain Finch, Great 

 Pied Mountain Finch, Brambling (a name belong- 

 ing to another bird altogether). A close sitter. 



BUNTING, YELLOW. See YELLOW HAMMER. 



BUZZARD, COMMON. 



(Buteo vulgaris.) 

 Order ACCIPITRES ; Family FALCONID^: (FALCONS). 



Description of Parent Birds. Length about 

 twenty-two inches. Beak short, much curved, 

 strong, and blue-black in colour. Bare skin round 

 the base of the beak yellow. Irides yellow. Crown, 

 nape, back wing-coverts, and upper side of tail- 

 quills clove or ferruginous brown, with large longi- 

 tudinal spots and dashes ; the tail being barred 

 with black and ash-colour, and at the end dusky- 



