226 BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



rusty-red, streaked with dusky-brown ; vent and 

 under tail-coverts pale rust-colour. Legs and toes 

 yellow ; claws black. 



The female is about two inches longer than the 

 male. The whole of her upper parts are dark liver- 

 brown, the feathers tipped with rusty-red and having 

 dusky shafts. Tail-quills, like the back, barred with 

 light yellowish-brown. Under parts pale brownish- 

 white, with broad, dusky-brown streaks. 



Situation and Locality. On the ground, amongst 

 deep heather and ling or scattered rocks; on open 

 moors, heaths, and rough sheep-pastures. It is 

 said to be occasionally found in trees and is some- 

 times situated on rough heather slopes at the tops 

 of cliffs. In the wild moorland parts of the north 

 of England. Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Our 

 full-page illustration is from a photograph taken on 

 the hills between Westmorland and Yorkshire. The 

 nest was in deep heather on a sloping hillside, com- 

 manding every aspect of approach. It was evidently 

 a favourite site, for the gentleman who showed it 

 to us in 1894 said that a brood had been reared 

 at the same place the year before ; and I flushed 

 the female close to the place in 1895, but was un- 

 able to find her nest. He showed us three knolls, 

 each about fifty yards from the nesting site, upon 

 which the old birds plucked the prey before taking 

 it to their young. They brought Moor Poults 

 (young Grouse), Green Plovers, Meadow Pipits, 

 mice, and young Snipe. 



Materials. A few twigs or sprigs of heather, 

 grass, or moss, generally next to nothing. The 

 one photographed was in a very slight depression, 

 and contained only a few dead heather sprouts. 



Eggs. Three to six, generally four or five, 



