176 YELLOW-HAMMER 



bare ground, sat upon and hatched them ; and Mr. Salmon, 

 of Thetford, mentions in the second volume of the Natu- 

 ralist, old series, page 274, his having on one occasion, 

 on the 29th of May 1834, found the nest at the height 

 of seven feet from the ground in a broom tree. Mr. 

 Hewitson, too, found one at a height of six feet from the 

 ground in a spruce fir, and Mr. M. C. Cooke has informed 

 me of one found, near Swanscombe, in a bush at a height 

 of twelve feet. 



The eggs, from four to five, and occasionally six in num- 

 ber, vary considerably, and are of a pale purple white colour, 

 streaked and speckled with dark reddish or purplish brown ; 

 the streaks frequently ending in spots of the same colour. 

 Some are of a red colour, with reddish -brown hair -like 

 streaks and lines, others entirely of a stone colour, marbled 

 in the usual way. The young are seldom able to fly before 

 the second week in June, being about a fortnight after they 

 have been hatched ; they keep together at night for a short 

 time before they finally separate. Two broods are occa- 

 sionally reared in the year. 



