BRITISH BIRDS. 



349 



an artless nest on the ground, and lays from eight 

 to twelve eggs, of a yellowish colour, with spots of 

 a rusty brown. The young cocks at first resemble 

 the mother, and do not acquire their male garb till 

 towards the end of autumn, when their plumage 

 gradually changes to a deeper colour and assumes 

 that of a bluish black, which it afterwards retains. 



