NATURE'S CAROL SINGERS. 



however, found two in holes amongst 

 rough stones where a Wheatear might 

 have been expected to breed. The struc- 

 ture is composed of bents, bits of fine 

 dead grass, and horse- 

 hair, but the last- 

 named article is 

 frequently absent al- 

 together. 



The eggs number 

 from four to six, but 

 five is a general clutch. 

 They are greyish-white, 

 sometimes tinged with 

 pale bluish - green or 

 pinkish in ground co- 

 lour, mottled with 

 varying shades of 

 brown and occasion- 

 ally marked with hair- 

 like lines of dusky 

 black on the larger 

 end. They are smaller 

 in size than those laid 

 by the Tree Pipit. 



This species is very 

 frequently victimised 

 by the Cuckoo, and I have often been 

 surprised at the lonely, treeless, and 

 semi-barren places the " Messenger of 



