9ti BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



each feather being broadly margined with lighter 

 grey, the outer front portion pale bluish-grey, the 

 rest dark leaden-grey ; lower portion of the back 

 and rump light bluish-grey ; upper tail- coverts 

 white ; tail-quills white on the inside webs and 

 greyish-brown on the outer, and tipped with white ; 

 chin, throat, and breast light grey; belly, vent, 

 under tail-coverts, and under side of tail-quills, 

 white. Sides, flanks, and thighs barred with two 

 shades of grey ; legs, toes, and webs flesh colour ; 

 claws black. 



The female is smaller in size than the male. 



Situation and Locality. On the ground amongst 

 tall rank grass, heather, rushes or osiers in lonely 

 swamps and moorland bogs of Boss, Sutherland, 

 Caithness, and the outer and inner Hebrides ; also 

 in a semi-domesticated state at Castle Coole, in 

 Ireland, where the birds are only subject to a limited 

 local movement. Our illustration was procured 

 on a small island in a fresh-water loch in the 

 Outer Hebrides. 



Materials. Heather, dried flags, rushes, leaves, 

 and grass in large quantities, with an inner lining of 

 feathers and down from the breast of the female. 



Eggs. Five to nine, sometimes twelve to four- 

 teen ; but all the best authorities have had to 

 accept the latter numbers on hearsay. Dull 

 yellowish, or creamy-white, with a very slight 

 suggestion of green. Morris says they are smooth 

 and shining, but Mr. Dixon and Messrs. Sharpe and 

 Dresser say they are dull and without polish ; and 

 the statements of the latter authorities are, of course, 

 borne out by specimens in collections. Size about 

 3-4 by 2-35 in. 



Time. March, April, and May. 



Remarks. Eesident, but subject to much local 



