EGGS AND EGG-COLLECTING. 25 



THE HOUSE SPARROW. 



THIS familiar little bird builds her nest in the walls of old 

 stone houses, at the back of spouting, and amongst ivy. 

 It is particularly fond of ejecting the Martin from her 

 carefully-built home, and has been even known to turn 

 out the eggs of this little harmless bird. She lays five or 

 six eggs, of a dirty white, covered with black or dark 

 brown spots. 



THE JACKDAW. 



THE Jackdaw builds her nest in towers of churches, the 

 ruins of old castles and abbeys, rocks, hollow trees, and 

 chalk pits. It is made of sticks, straw, and hay, with an 

 inner lining of large feathers, hair, and wool. The eggs, 

 numbering from three to six, are a pale green-blue, spotted 

 with dingy brown ; the spots are confluent at the larger 

 or thicker end. 



THE COMMON GROUSE. 



THE Grouse lays on an average about nine eggs; as many aa 

 fifteen have been found, but this number has been by some 

 attributed to two birds, as they will sometimes build (if we 

 may term it such) within a yard of each other. Their nests 

 merely consist of a little hollow scratched out, and lined 

 with heather or bent. The eggs are of a dirty white colour, 

 covered with umber-brown spots. Both the old birds are 

 very cunning in trying to decoy the intruder away from 

 the whereabouts of the nest, feigning lameness or injury. 



THE KESTREL. 



THE Kestrel lays four to seven eggs of a dirty white, some- 

 times with a bluish tinge, thickly covered with reddish- 



