338 BRITISH HT.RDtf NESTS. 



willow and alder-fringed streams whilst trout-fishing, 

 and have often sat and watched the hen hop about 

 restlessly, and after a great deal of timid hesitation, 

 re-enter her nest. I was shown two nests in West- 

 moreland during June, 1894, in holes in walls. 

 One was at least three feet from the ground and 

 the other about a couple, not reckoning a high 

 bank upon which the wall stood. Throughout the 

 British Isles, wherever trees and bushes are to be 

 found in sufficient quantities . Our illustration is 

 from a photograph taken in a Yorkshire dale. The 

 front of the nest was opened so as to show the 

 eggs inside. 



Materials. Dead grass, moss, dead fern-fronds 

 and leaves, lined with horsehair, cowhair, and 

 liberal quantities of feathers. It is dome-shaped, 

 with a hole in front which is somewhat larger 

 than that of the ChifTchaff. 



Eggs. Four to eight, generally six to seven ; 

 white, spotted variably with pale rusty -red. Some- 

 times the spots are small and scattered pretty 

 evenly over the surface ; at others they are larger, 

 less numerous, and more thickly congregated round 

 the larger end. Pure white and unspotted specimens 

 have been met with. The pale rusty-red markings 

 distinguish the eggs of this bird from those of the 

 Wood Wren and Chiffchaff. Size about -64 by 

 47 in. 



Time. April, May, June, and July, although 

 the last-named month is late. I once found a bird 

 sitting on eggs as late as the 4th of August. 



Remarks. Migratory, arriving in March and 

 April, and departing in August and September 

 according to some authorities, and October accord- 

 ing to others. Specimens have been seen during 

 the winter in the southern counties of England. 



