4180 The Zoologist — October, 1874. 



•' One very favourite situation for the nest is under a long strip of turf 

 which has been nearly reversed by the plough. In such a situation I once 

 found the commencement of a nest, and derived much interest from watching 

 the progress of the work. When one of the birds disclosed to me the site 

 chosen for its future habitation, by flying out suddenly at my feet, I could 

 perceive nothing more than a slight hollow which had been scraped beneath 

 the turf, and although I frequently visited the spot in the course of the day, 

 nothing more was seen of the bird until about twenty hours afterwards, 

 when the pair began placing a number of fibrous roots in front in the form 

 of a half circle, the back part of the cavity being left untouched. In a few 

 hours' time some stalks of plants w^ere added, and from four o'clock in the 

 afternoon until noon next day the birds disappeared. They next laid the 

 foundation of the other half of the circle, continuing steadily at their task 

 untU. the structure was equal in height all round. They now appeared more 

 eager to proceed, working so diligently that by the evening of the fourth 

 day the mass of roots, grass and stalks of plants formed a perfectly circular 

 Avail an inch and a half in height and about two inches in thickness, some- 

 what loose and irregular upon the outside, but with the inside neatly 

 interwoven and sloping rather suddenly to the bare patch of ground 

 enclosed. On the morning of the fifth day I observed a few feathers upon 

 the ground in the centre, and the number rapidly increased until the sides 

 were covered more than half-way towards the brim ; in the evening the 

 feathers were almost concealed by a quantity of cow's hair, among which a 

 little wool was intermingled. More work was done on that day than upon 

 any other. Having often found rabbit's fur in the nest of the twite, I now 

 procured a quantity of that material and strewed it over the ground, not too 

 near lest it might cause suspicion. Although it was soon discovered, the 

 birds were not quite contented, using it rather sparingly, and working it 

 into a felt-like mass with wool and the hair of cows and ponies. This 

 process appeared to be one of difficulty and to require great care, for it was 

 not before the evening of the eighth day that the task was completed, the 

 brim of the cavity being by that time neatly finished off with a few long 

 black horse-hairs, and measuring exactly two inches and a quarter in 

 diameter. On the ninth day the birds were not to be seen, but by the 

 morning of the tenth day the first egg was laid. Every succeeding 

 morning I found an additional egg until five had been laid, and the female 

 began to sit. It is seldom that the lining of the nest touches the ground, 

 as it did in this instance, a layer of fibrous roots. Sec, being generally inter- 

 spersed. I observed that the thickness of the lower part of the nest is 

 greatest in those specimens which have been found in bushes far above the 

 ground."— P. 109. 



The raven is another species which we know only as a captive. 

 Mr. Hurting, who is our best authority on Loudon birds, does not 



