BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 455 



in Norfolk, parts of Suffolk, and in Yorkshire and 

 Westmorland, than anywhere else in the British 

 Isles ; also in the south of Scotland, and, to a 

 very limited extent, in Ireland. The bird is wary, 

 and the nest difficult to find. I have watched a 

 pair for three or four hours through my binoculars , 

 and when able to locate the nest pretty closely have 

 still failed to find it. 



Materials. Dead grass, fibrous roots, and moss, 



YELLOW WAGTAIL'S NEST AND YOUNG. 



with an inner lining of horse or cowhair, feathers, 

 or down. 



Eggs. Four to six, generally five, ground-colour 

 greyish-white, mottled and spotted with varying 

 shades of brown ; sometimes marbled with blackish- 

 brown at the larger end. The markings are thickly 

 distributed over the surface of the egg. They 

 are very similar to those of the Blue-headed Wag- 

 tail, Pied Wagtail, and Sedge Warbler. The differ- 

 ence pointed out in regard to the plumage of the 

 first in describing it, and the situation of the two 

 latter, ought to prevent confusion. Size about .78 

 by .58 in. (See Plate III.) 



Time. Some very good authorities say April, 



