95 



BOOK. 



PLATE XLVI. 



Corvns frugilerjuts, LINNJSUS. GMELIK. 



Gornix frugilega, BRISSOIT. 



" nigrafrugilega, RAY. WILLUGHBT. 



EARLY in March the nests of the previous year are begun to be 

 repaired, and some new ones are necessarily built by the young of that 

 date. The male diligently feeds the female, and occasionally takes her 

 place on the eggs. The young are fledged by the end of May, or the 

 beginning of June; and second broods are sometimes produced as late 

 as November; but possibly they should be considered rather as early 

 than late ones. 



The nest is composed of large sticks, cemented with clay, mixed 

 with tufts of grass, and is lined with roots. 



The eggs, four or five in number, are of a pale green ground colour, 

 blotted over with darker and lighter patches of yellowish and greenish 

 brown: they vary much. 



One variety is nearly white, elegantly striated and dotted with brown. 



A second is of a grey ground colour, marbled all over with a slightly 

 darker shade of the same. 



A third is of an olive brown tint, with extended waves, blots, and 

 dots of darker. 



A fourth is pale greenish, slightly mottled all over, principally at the 

 base. 



A fifth is dark greenish brown, much mottled with a darker shade 

 of the same. 



