BRITISH BIRUtf NESTS 101 



brown on the other parts. The forehead and rump 

 are bright golden-green. Wing-quills dusky, some 

 of them bordered with yellow and others with 

 grey on the outer webs. Tail feathers dusky, 

 those in the middle uniform, the rest bordered 

 with yellow on their exterior webs. Chin, throat, 

 and breast, bright yellowish-green ; belly lighter 

 and mixed with ash-grey; vent and under-tail- 

 coverts white, tinged with pale yellow. Legs, toes, 

 and claws light pinkish-brown. 



The female is somewhat smaller, and her upper 

 parts are greenish-brown, tinged only with yellow 

 on the wing-coverts, rump, and wing and tail quills ; 

 but this is of a duller character than that found on 

 the feathers of the male. Under parts dull greyish- 

 brown, inclining to greenish-yellow on the belly. 



Situation and Locality. In thick, whitethorn 

 hedges, gorse bushes, yew-trees, ivy, holly, and 

 other evergreens ; in shrubberies, orchards, on 

 commons, and almost anywhere in suit ably- wooded 

 districts. Our illustration is from a photograph of 

 one out of four, situated within a few yards of each 

 other in a thick hedge dividing an orchard from a 

 Surrey common. It is met with in suitable localities 

 throughout the United Kingdom. 



Materials. Slender twigs, rootlets, moss, and 

 grass, lined internally with hair and feathers. 



Eggs. Four to six, white, pale grey, or white 

 tinged with blue, in ground colour, sparingly spotted 

 with varying shades of brown, from greyish to 

 dark liver-coloured. The spots and markings are 

 generally most numerous at the larger end. 

 Specimens have sometimes been found pure white 

 and unmarked. They are often very difficult to 

 distinguish from the eggs of the Goldfinch. Size 

 about -82 by '56 in. 



