158 FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS. 



is made of the dried leaves of the oak, apple, elm, &c., 

 carelessly arranged. It is situated in a hole of a decaying 

 tree, and if too large at the entrance the bird plasters it up 

 until she can just get in and out comfortably. 



THE COMMON SEAGULL. 



THIS bird lays two, and sometimes three eggs, of a pale 

 green or a yellowish-white colour, irregularly blotched 

 with gray and blackish-brown. Her nest is made of sea- 

 weed, dry grass, &c., and is found on sea cliffs and bold 

 rocky headlands, such as St. Abb's Head in Berwickshire. 



THE GREEN WOODPECKER. 



THE eggs of this bird are three or four in number, of a 

 very light bluish-tinged white colour. Her nest is made 

 entirely of the pieces of wood chipped off by the bird in 

 her boring operations. It is placed in the trunk of a tree, 

 frequently in a hole which the bird herself has previously 

 excavated, and perhaps used before. She seems to have 

 a particular liking for the aspen and black poplar tree. 



THE KINGFISHER. 



THIS bird lays six or seven eggs, nearly round, white and 

 shining. When fresh and unblown, the yolk shows through 

 the shell, and gives it a beautiful pink colour, something 

 similar to the Dipper's, but more clear and vivid. The 

 nest is composed of the bones of fishes, and is generally 

 in the Sandmartin's previous excavations, about three or 

 four feet above the usual surface of the water. 



