72 WITH NATURE AND A CAMERA. 



whereas the hole in similar nests examined in 

 England is generally not more than one and one- 

 sixteenth. I did not take any measurements from 

 the nests with eggs in, as they had been investi- 

 gated by large rough fingers, which had, of course, 

 destroyed the scientific value of anything in the 

 way of horizontal diameter. The nests are larger, 



- ' 

 / 



''^ppfpp^^' ' *- 



ST. KILDA WREN. 



constructed of rougher materials, and not so neatly 

 made as those of mainland Wrens. 



The eggs, although subject to the usual amount 

 of variation in point of size, run larger, as will be 

 seen from the illustration on p. 70, which has been 

 prepared from a carefully-made photograph taken 

 life-size with the camera directly over them, for 

 purposes of comparison. My friend Mackenzie told 

 me that although he has examined quite fifty 

 nests during the time he has visited the island in 

 the capacity of factor, he has never yet seen one 



