BIRDS OF MARLBOROUGH. 109 



seems to have been placed near the top of some tall and 

 thick whitethorn, near the centre of the Forest. It is 

 usually composed of roots and birch twigs outside, lined 

 with smaller twigs and horsehair inside. In materials 

 therefore it closely resembles the nest of the Bullfinch, but 

 differs from it in being larger and flatter. The eggs are 

 four or five in number. 



Carduelis elegans. Goldfinch. 

 Linota cannabina. Common Linnet. 



Linota linaria. Lesser Redpole. 



Is seen in flocks throughout the winter in the stubble- 

 fields, especially those between Marlborough and Martinsell. 



Pyrrlmla vulgaris. Bullfinch. 



This bird is by no means common, owing probably to 

 the bleak and exposed character of the country, to which 

 it is said to show an aversion throughout England. 



Sturnus vulgaris. Starling. 



Thousands of these birds build in the Forest, the great 

 majority of them in deserted Woodpeckers' holes, the position 

 of which in great measure protects them from birdnesters. 

 They appear to return year by year to the same tree. In 

 the autumn they come down to roost by thousands in the 

 withy-beds along the Kennet. 



Corvus corax. Raven. 



A pair of these birds built for many years in succession 

 in a magnificent clump of fir-trees in the Forest, around 

 which they might be heard croaking incessantly from the 

 end of December, when nidification commences, to the end 

 of March, when the young are usually able to leave the 

 nest. The place has been deserted by them now for three 



