74 EGGS AND EGG-COLLECTING. 



the bird's own body. The eggs number six to eight, or 

 even a dozen, creamy-white, unpolished. 



THE MUTE SWAN. 



ALTHOUGH semi-domesticated and holding its footing only 

 by the help of strict protection, the Swan has been so 

 long with us that it merits treatment, I think. Its ness 

 is composed of reeds, rushes, and grass, with a slight lining 

 of down and feathers, and is placed on small islands and 

 on the banks of lakes and rivers. The eggs number from 

 three or four to a dozen, according to the age of the parent 

 bird, and are greenish-white, roughish, and unspotted. 



THE SHAG. 



IN caves, fissures, on ledges of maritime cliffs, and amongst 

 huge boulders piled up along the beach of small rocky 

 islands around our coasts, may be found the nest of this 

 bird. I have seen specimens close together vary con- 

 siderably in size according to the accommodation. It is 

 composed of seaweed, sticks, sprigs of heather, turf, and 

 grass. The eggs number two, three, four, or five, generally 

 one of the first two numbers, the real shell being of a 

 delicate bluish-green, but difficult to see on account of the 

 thick, chalky encrustation. 



THE CRESTED TIT. 



THE nest of this pretty little bird is placed in a hole in the 

 branch or trunk of a tree at varying heights from the 



