156 HILLSIDE, ROCK, AND DALE 



before, it seemed to be quite ready for incubation 

 purposes. The birds had, however, spent another 

 week on their home ; it was almost on the ground 

 in a small clump of young furze, and was skilfully 

 concealed. 



The other nest was about thirty minutes' walk 

 from this one, and" as we went over the yellow furze- 

 covered heath the wind seemed to increase in force, 

 and I was afraid photography would be impossible. 

 At length we reached the nest in a patch of furze 

 at the top of a hill. On moving the branches aside 

 and looking in, we were greatly disappointed to 

 find it empty. Had some collector been there before 

 us, or had a robber-bird taken the eggs ? All doubt, 

 however, was set at rest, for the single egg was found 

 to have dropped through the bottom of the flimsy 

 little structure, but luckily was not broken. This 

 nest was very lightly built and consisted only of 

 a few dried grasses made cup-shaped. I think 

 the bird must have laid the egg before the nest 

 was ready, or the strong winds, which had been 

 prevalent for a week, destroyed the nest to a certain 

 extent, and caused the egg to slip through. How- 

 ever, we placed the egg back in the nest, and tried 

 to photograph it, but with little success. One of 

 us held the furze bush, another held my focussing 

 cloth to keep the wind off, while I waited with 

 pneumatic ball in hand to give the necessary ex- 



