3i8 BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



breast, flanks, and under-parts light greyish. Sides 

 streaked with dull brown. Legs and toes darkish 

 brown ; claws nearly black. 



The female is a trifle smaller, and lacks the red 

 on her breast and upper tail-coverts. Chin brown- 

 ish-black ; under-parts brownish-white, streaked 

 with dark brown on the breast, sides, and flanks. 



Situation and Locality. In alders, willows, elms, 

 firs, hawthorns, hazel and other trees and bushes, 

 generally pretty low down, but sometimes at a con- 

 siderable height. Occasionally it may be found 

 in a heather tuft. In shrubberies, coppices, planta- 

 tions, and bushes that fringe streams and ponds 

 in mountain districts. It has been found breeding 

 in nearly every county in England, but is most 

 numerous in the northern counties, in Wales, and in 

 Scotland. It breeds in Ireland most numerously in 

 the north. 



Materials. Fine twigs (used as a foundation), 

 dry grass, stalks, moss, and roots, with an inner 

 lining of willow down, sometimes hair and feathers. 

 It is cup-shaped, and, as a rule, a well made and 

 beautiful little structure. 



Eggs. Four to six, generally five, of a very pale 

 bluish-green colour, spotted generally about the 

 larger end with orange - red, occasionally streaked 

 with a darker colour. There are also underlying 

 markings of pale greyish-brown. The black chin and 

 smaller size of the parent birds distinguish the nest 

 of this bird from those of either the Linnet or Twite. 

 Size about .62 by .46 in. (See Plate II.) 



Time. May and June, as a rule, although nests 

 containing fresh eggs may sometimes be found as 

 late as the third week in July. 



Remarks. Resident in Scotland and the north 



