EGGS AND EGG-COLLECTING. 61 



sometimes without either moss or hair. The eggs number 

 four or five, of a dull bluish or cinereous white with ir- 

 regular streaks of dark brown, often terminating in a spot 

 at one end. 



THE HAWFINCH. 



THE Hawfinch builds in various kinds of trees and at 

 various heights ; sometimes its nest is found quite exposed 

 in a whitethorn bush, or on the horizontal branch of an 

 oak. It is built of twigs, &c., intermixed with lichens, 

 and interlined with fine fibrous roots and hair. Her eggs 

 number from four to six, of a pale olive-green colour, 

 irregularly streaked with dusky grey and spotted with 

 black. The ground-colour is variable, being sometimes of 

 a buffish hue. 



THE STOCK DOVE. 



CLEFTS in rocks, rabbit-holes, cavities in the trunks of trees, 

 and often on the ground beneath thick furze-bushes whicb 

 are next door to waterproof on account of their thickness, 

 are the situations chosen by the Stock Dove. Very little 

 trouble is taken with the nest, which merely consists of a 

 few twigs and roots. The eggs only number two, of a pure 

 shining white. 



THE DARTFORD WARBLER. 



THICK furze-bushes are the places chosen by this bird for 

 its nesting-place on the commons of Kent and Surrey. 

 The materials used are dead branches of furze, moss, and 

 dry grass mixed with wool, and lined inside with finer dead 

 grasses, the whole structure being loosely put together. 

 The eggs number four or five, and are of a greenish, some. 



