58 WILD NATURE IN STRATHEARN. 



covered all over with grey and brown spots. 

 The common Sandpiper, Snipe, Curlew, and 

 others of the wader class, deposit their eggs 

 in a scooped-out hollow, into which a few leaves 

 and grasses may have been scattered. There 

 is no attempt to form a nest. The eggs of 

 these birds are large in proportion to the size 

 of the bird, and are covered with brown blots. 

 The nests, if we may call them so, are to be 

 found amongst long dry grass, near marshy 

 ground, or amongst the heath on a moor. 



The Tawny Owl is not particular about a 

 nest, using an old one of another bird if it 

 comes handy, and is of suitable dimensions. 

 When it makes a nest for itself it is a loosely 

 thrown together structure ; but the Owl is often 

 content with a hole in a tree. The eggs, four 

 in number, are white, and almost round. 



Birds build nests, not for homes or for a 

 harbour or refuge in stormy weather, but solely 

 for the purpose of hatching and rearing their 

 young. In the construction of these nurseries 



