NATURE'S CAROL SINGERS. 



This species does not live, as its name 

 might be taken to imply, in stony wil- 

 dernesses, but upon furze-clad commons 

 and uncultivated land where juniper, 

 brambles, and other kinds of tangled 

 vegetation grow. The nest is built upon 

 or near the ground, and is generally well 

 concealed. It consists of rootlets, moss, 

 and dry grass, with an inner lining of 

 hair, feathers, and occasionally pieces of 

 wool. I have often seen it with very 

 little else than fine blades of dead grass. 



The eggs number from four to six, and 

 on rare occasions even seven have been 

 found. They are of a pale bluish-green 

 ground colour, closely spotted round the 

 larger end with reddish-brown. Some- 

 times the spots are entirely absent. 



The Stonechat, although subject to 

 local movement, stays with us all the 

 year round. Its soft, low song, although 

 of no great length or importance, is sweet 

 and pleasing, and sometimes contains 

 imitations of other birds' notes. It is 

 delivered both whilst the singer is at rest 

 and hovering in the air. The male 

 helps the female to feed the young ones, 

 and in the case of the chicks hatched 

 from the eggs figured on the previous 

 page he had the whole of the domestic 



