262 BRITISH BIRDS' XESTS. 



the bill and passes over the eyes. A dusky line 

 passes from the base of the beak to the eye ; back 

 and scapulars dark brown, barred with rusty brown. 

 Four distinct lines of dark brown feathers, bordered 

 with rich buff, run along the upper parts of the 

 body. Wing-coverts dull black, spotted with pale 

 brown and tipped with white ; quills dull black, 

 some of them edged and others tipped with white ; 

 upper tail-coverts dusky black, barred with brown ; 

 tail- quills black, barred and spotted with dull 

 orange-red, and tipped with pale reddish-yellow ; 

 chin brownish-grey ; neck and cheeks light brown ; 

 front and sides of neck a mixture of dark and rusty 

 brown ; breast, belly, and vent white ; under tail- 

 coverts pale brown, barred with dusky black ; legs 

 and toes greenish-brown, dusky, or leaden colour. 



The female is practically like the male, except 

 that she is a trifle larger. 



Situation and Locality. On the ground, in a 

 tuft of long coarse grass, amongst rushes or heather, 

 generally hidden by an overhanging tuft of half- 

 dead grass. In wet pasture-lands, marshes, and 

 swamps, near tarns and bogs, in suitable localities 

 throughout the United Kingdom. Our illustration 

 is from a photograph taken in Norfolk. 



Materials. A few dry grass stalks, slender 

 sprigs of dead heather or other bits of herbage, used 

 as a lining ; sometimes hardly anything at all. 



Eggs. Four ; ground colour varying from olive- 

 green to greyish-yellow ; spotted and blotched with 

 blackish-brown, light brown, and underlying mark- 

 ings of grey. The markings are generally most 

 numerous at the larger end, and the eggs are 

 sharply pointed at the smaller. Size about 1*58 by 

 1-1 in. 



Time. April and May, although nests with 



