WITH THE BIRDS IN WALES 159 



magnificent eggs, one of which so resembled a certain 

 type of Kestrel's that had I seen it away from the 

 nest and the other egg I should have mistaken it for 

 one. No description of mine will do this egg 

 adequate justice, and I am sure of its kind it is 

 perfectly unique. The ground colour, where it can 

 be seen, is of a sort of creamy blue ; sometimes it 

 looks creamy, at others very pale bluish yellow, and 

 the markings are very intense orange chestnut. The 

 larger half of the egg is hidden entirely by this 

 rich colouring. This is a late lot undoubtedly, but 

 the female may have been delayed by losing her 

 mate, though usually a partner (should any evil befall 

 the existing one) is found within twenty-four hours, 

 as I have proved on several occasions. I noticed 

 numbers of Swifts dashing round my cottage, and 

 some of them should breed there, for there are plenty 

 of holes under the roofing for them. There are no 

 Martins nesting under the eaves either, though I see 

 traces of over twenty nests, relics of past years. 

 Why they have deserted this house I cannot say, but 

 it seems to me that House-martins and Swallows 

 have grown appreciably scarcer during the past few 

 years. 



May ijth. During a severe shower I sheltered 

 under the tree containing the Crow's nest, by the line. 

 They have young now, but the old birds took care 

 not to approach too closely. The male always seems 

 to be hunting down by the river, as was his custom 

 when his hen was incubating. It now cleared up for 

 a bit, and I continued my ramble on the river side of 

 the embankment, and in a steepish bank flushed a 



