AMONG THE BIRDS IN SPRING. 21 



increasing its bulk every season. Magpies often Magpies 

 lay as many as eight eggs, and if the first clutch 



be destroyed another one is produced. The Jay "' 



loves to nest in the lower vegetation. Nothing 

 suits it better than to build in some tall holly in 

 the woods, or amongst the honeysuckle growing 

 in a tangled mass over the nut bushes. Its nest 

 is smaller than the Magpie's, has no roof, and is 

 not used more than once. In the holes of the 

 decaying timber the Titmice make their nests ; 

 but the Great Titmouse often builds a domed 

 structure in the old nest of a Magpie, or even in 

 the disused " drey " of a squirrel. Blue Titmice 

 love the old elm trees, or a knot-hole in some 

 sturdy oak. Coal Titmice, as a rule, breed nearer 

 the ground, in an old decayed stump, or even in 

 a cavity amongst roots. In the country lanes, 

 and on the rough commons, as well as in the 

 coppices, the Grasshopper Warbler reels off his 

 monotonous music at intervals, whilst the loud, 

 shrill keel of the Wryneck informs us that this 

 singular species is back again for the summer. 

 The peculiar habits and characteristics, the extra- 

 ordinary fecundity, and the beautiful adaptation of 

 structure to requirements, render the Wryneck 

 specially interesting to the naturalist. In the 

 larger woods the Carrion Crow still manages to Carrlon 

 exist, in spite of guns, traps, and poison. It is a , w 2 s 9 ui y " 

 late breeder one of the latest of the Crow tribe AI 

 waiting until the leaves are sufficiently out to 

 shield its domestic arrangements from the prying 



