EGGS AND EGG-COLLECTING. 143 



THE GRASSHOPPER WARBLER. 

 The nest of this shy little summer visitor is usually well 

 concealed near the ground, in the middle of a thick bush. 

 It is constructed of strong dry grass and moss outside, 

 with an inner lining of slender grass. The eggs number 

 from four to seven, and are of a pale rosy-coloured white, 

 with spots and speckles all over of a darker-shaded red. 



THE GOLDEN EAGLE. 

 The mate of this king of birds builds her nest in the most 

 desolate and unapproachable parts of Scotland, Ireland, and 

 Wales, where even the skilful and daring cragsman cannot 

 come. The eyrie is made of sticks, a supply being added 

 each year until an enormous pile is collected, almost flat at 

 the top. The eggs number from two to three, and are of a 

 grey or dingy-white colour, clouded and blotched nearly 

 all over with rusty or reddish-brown spots. 



THE EIDER DUCK. 

 This useful member of the Duck family breeds sometimes 

 on the coast of Northumberland, the Fame Islands, and on 

 the shores of Norway and Sweden, in great numbers. The 

 nest is made of dried grasses, weeds, &c. ; and as the pro- 

 cess of incubation advances, like the Shoveller, the mother 

 lines the nest profusely with the beautiful down from its 

 body. The eggs usually number five, and are of a light 

 green colour, oblong in shape. 



THE TAWNY OWL. 

 A hollow in a tree, or the deserted nest of a Crow, serves 

 this nocturnal bird for a nest. The egsrs are of an 



