152 FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS. 



THE ROOK. 



THE Book lays four or five eggs of a pale green colour, 

 spotted and blotched with greenish or smoky brown. She 

 makes her nest of sticks, straw, hay, &c., and is rather 

 particular about it, pulling it to pieces and rebuilding it 

 several times. Tall trees are usually selected, generally 

 near to some mansion or village, where the rooks form a 

 small colony. This bird lays very early, and has been 

 known to commence sitting even in November. 



THE COMMON WREN. 



THIS little bird lays six eggs of a yellowish-white tinge, 

 spotted at the larger end with a kind of brownish-red. 

 It builds several supplementary nests, which are simply 

 made of moss and lichen ; this is attributed to the male 

 bird by some naturalists ; but however this may be, as a 

 rule two of these nests will be bound to one of the others 

 lined with feathers, which is intended for incubation. The 

 nest is built in old barns, on the sides of cliffs, and in the 

 roots of trees ; it is dome-shaped, and has a very small 

 entrance. 



THE JAY. 



THE Jay lays five or six eggs of a pale greenish-blue, 

 sometimes yellowish-white, thickly spotted with minute 

 brown spots, generally confluent on the larger end, where 

 there are several irregular black lines. She builds her nest 

 in the thickest parts of woods, where it may be well out of 

 sight. It is composed of sticks, small twigs, small fibrous 

 roots, and grass. 



