14 2 FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS. 



the spot, Like its congeners, it only lays four eggs, very 

 similar in ground colour and marking to the two birds 

 quoted above, varying from stone-colour to olive-green, 

 blotched and speckled with rich brown and liver-coloured 

 spots. 



THE WHITE-TAILED EAGLE. 

 The high, inaccessible cliffs of Scotland and Ireland are 

 the places where this noble bird propagates its race. Sticks, 

 heather, grass, and wool are the nesting materials used. 

 The eggs are two in number, usually of an unspotted 

 white as representative, but sometimes slightly marked 

 with pale red — this, however, being the exception. 



THE GREY PHALAROPE. 

 The breeding haunts of this bird seem to be as far north 

 as it can possibly carry out incubation successfully ; Green- 

 land, Northern Siberia, and Melville Island being chosen. 

 A natural depression in the peat earth serves as a nest, in 

 which four eggs are usually laid, of a stony colour, tinged 

 with olive-green, speckled and spotted (especially at the 

 larger end) with dark brown. 



THE SHOVELLER. 

 This duck breeds in Norfolk, the Fen districts, and Scot- 

 land, once numerously, but now rarely. The nest is made 

 in marshes as far removed from human intrusion as possible, 

 and is constructed of sedges, reeds, &c; and as the time of 

 hatching approaches the eggs are covered, with down from 

 the bird's own body. They number from eight to twelve, 

 and are white, tinged with green. 



