The Bird Book 



washed with brown, the eye stripe is whitish 

 yellow, the back is a rusty brown, while the 

 under parts are whitish barred with greyish 

 brown. 



The Butcher Bird arrives in May, and confines 

 itself chiefly to the south of England, though 

 even here it is local. To the north-west of 

 London and around Cambridge it is plentiful 

 enough, but is quite a rarity in Devon and Corn- 

 wall. The nest is rather large for the size of 

 the bird, somewhat resembling a small Black- 

 bird's from the outside, but is lined with fine 

 grass, wool, and a little hair. One is rather at a 

 loss to account for the fact that two varieties of 

 eggs occur with equal frequency in the same 

 districts, yet so it is. One is of creamy white 

 ground colour, marked with clearly defined rufous 

 spots, and also underlying spots of violet grey. 

 The other variety is greenish white, with brown 

 markings and underlying spots of the same tint 

 as in the first, and in both the spots tend to form 

 a ring round the larger end. 



But let us leave so favoured a spot as the lane I 

 have attempted to describe and turn to the ordinary 

 roadside hedge bank. There is no dearth of bird 

 life here. Neatly hidden in the bank is a Robin's 

 nest with five creamy eggs speckled with reddish 

 brown. The parent birds hang around anxiously, 

 but our attention is attracted by a rustling sound, 

 and we see a little brown Wren threading its way 



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