92 OUR BARER BRITISH BREEDING BIRDS. ' 



the photograph was taken, and did not stir until 

 positively obliged to do so. 



The nest is a slight hollow scratched in the 

 ground, generally in the shelter of a stone, and 

 scantily lined with a few bits of dead grass, and 

 feathers after five or six eggs have been laid. 



The eggs number from seven to ten or twelve, 

 varying in ground colour from greyish - white to 

 pale reddish-brown, spotted and blotched all over 

 with rich dark brown. They are not so profusely 

 marked as those of the Bed Grouse, and their 

 ground colour is more buffy. 



REDPOLL, LESSER, 



ALTHOUGH the Lesser Redpoll has its head breeding 

 quarters in Scotland and the north of England, 

 its nest has been found in almost every other part 

 of the United Kingdom where suitable conditions 

 for its existence prevail. It is also said to be 

 more numerous as a breeding species in the north 

 than in the south of Ireland. I have met with it 

 in different parts of the country under circum- 

 stances which left no doubt that it was breeding 

 in the neighbourhood, but have seldom seen its 

 nest. 



Our first illustration, representing a nest in a 

 birch - tree, was obtained in an east Norfolk 

 copse, and the second, showing the eggs, at Rains- 

 worth Lodge, Nottinghamshire. 



The nest is placed in all sorts of trees, such 

 as firs, elms, alders, hawthorns, and willows, at 

 varying heights from the ground. Occasionally 

 it has been met with even amongst heather stalks. 



