WOODCHAT 63 



The Woodchat often uses arofaatic herbs in the con- 

 struction of its nest. 



Mr. Salvin, describing the breeding of this species in 

 Algeria, says that it " breeds in great numbers on the hill- 

 sides in the neighbourhood of Djendeli, making a nest 

 composed almost entirely of one material, viz., a small grey 

 flower, which the bird collects with the stalk, and entwines 

 into its nest, employing the same for the lining. The whole 

 structure is beautifully neat and compact." 



The eggs are usually four or five in number, and varying 

 much in marking, as well as in size and shape. In some the 

 ground colour is pale green, in others dull buffish white, with 

 a band or zone of rust-coloured spots round the lower end ; 

 in others the whole surface is more or less spotted with a 

 lighter colour. A rare variety has the ground reddish buff. 



Mr. Hewitson describes one from the collection of the 

 Messrs. Tuke, of York, in which the spots, which are large 

 and deep, and in colour of a brown or neutral tint, are scattered 

 equally over the whole surface. 



