158 FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS. 



by a layer of finer grass, and the interior lined with horse- 

 hair. 



THE JACK SNIPE. 



ACCORDING to some of the very best authorities on British 

 ornithology, the Jack Snipe does not breed in these islands 

 although an occasional nest is said to have been found. 

 The bird is only a winter migrant, and breeds in the 

 neighbourhood of St. Petersburg. The eggs are four in 

 number, of a yellowish olive colour, spotted with two shades 

 of brown, especially on the larger end. 



THE GYR FALCON. 



THE Gyr Falcon does not build in the British Isles, or 

 with extreme rarity, but breeds in Iceland, Greenland, 

 and the northern districts of Europe and America. The 

 nest is composed of sticks, sea-weed, and mosses, and is 

 situated in lofty precipices. The eggs are two in number, 

 mottled nearly all over with pale reddish-brown on a dull 

 white ground. They are larger than those of the Pere- 

 grine Falcon, but very similar in shape and colour, as well 

 as in the mode in which the colour is disposed over the 

 surface. 



THE FIELDFARE. 



A FIELDFARE'S nest has never, within my personal know- 

 ledge, been found in the British Isles, the birds breeding in 

 the more northern parts of Europe, such as Norway and 



