108 GOLDCREST. 



project inward: two nests have been found on one branch. Mr. Hewit- 

 son says 'It is sometimes placed upon the upper surface of the branch; 

 and I have also seen it, but rarely, placed against the trunk of the 

 tree upon the base of a diverging branch, and at an elevation of from 

 twelve to twenty feet above the ground/ He also mentions in the 

 'Zoologist/ page 825, his having once met with the nest in a low 

 juniper bush, very little more than a foot from the ground. James 

 Croome, Esq. writes me word of one he found in the stump of a thin 

 bush, about four feet from the ground, and another in a bush a few 

 feet from the hedge, at a height of about six feet. 



Deserted nests of this species are frequently to be met with, but the 

 reason of their desertion is not known. The eggs in one nest were 

 observed placed in two rows, with the small ends touching each other. 



The eggs are four, five, six, or seven, to eight, or even ten, or eleven 

 in number; they are of a very pale reddish or brownish white; the 

 larger end being much the darkest coloured, and light reddish brown; 

 some have been known pure white, sparingly spotted with reddish 

 brown here and there. They are smaller than those of any other British 

 bird, and are sometimes almost of a globular shape. The young are fed 

 by both the parents. It is thought that two broods are reared in the 

 year, and that the second is less numerous than the first. Eggs, fresh 

 laid, have been met with in May and June, while the young birds have 

 been known fully fledged by the third week in April. The same nest 

 has also been known to have been used twice in the same season, 

 two broods being hatched and reared; but whether by the same parents 

 or not, of course could not be told. 



One variety is of a greyish white, with some small spots of pinkish 

 yellow all over, some of them arranged as a band. 



Another is of a dull pale yellowish white, with yellowish brown spots 

 thickly run together at the base: it is of a rotund form. 



A third is greyish, and of an oval shape, with a bar of minute 

 spots of the same over the base. 



W. Bridger, Esq. has forwarded me a nest, and a lady a drawing 

 of one. Mrs. Murchison, of the Priory, Bicester, has also obliged mo 

 with a beautiful specimen of the nest and the egg. 



