164 BIRDS' NESTS. 



feathers or rabbits' down, The eggs, from 

 four to six in number, are of a uniform deli- 

 cate pale blue, nearly an inch long, and some- 

 what above half an inch broad. 



WHINCHAT. Saxicola Rubetra. 



PLATE XL FIG. 1. 



THE Whinchat, or "Furzechat, builds a nest 

 very like that of the wheat ear, and, like that 

 bird, either on the ground, or a short distance 

 beneath it, The nest is formed of moss and 

 bents, and lined with fine grass. The eggs, 

 five or six, are of a uniform bluish green, often 

 marked with minute specks of dull reddish 

 brown. The egg is three quarters of an inch 

 long, and about half an inch broad. 



REDSTART. Phoenicura ruticilla. 



PLATE XII. FIG. 2. 

 THIS pretty little bird selects for its dwell- 

 ing a hollow tree, or a hole in a wall, or the 

 space left between a fruit-tree and the wall 

 to which it is trained; it has been known 





