46 BGGS AND EGG-COLLECTING. 
THE BLUE TIT. 
Buus Tits lay from seven to nine eggs, of a white under- 
ground, spotted with red-brown all over, but more nume- 
rously at the larger end. Their nests are composed of 
moss, feathers, and hair, and will generally be found in 
holes in trees or walls. 
THE BLACKOCAP. 
Tue Blackcap locates her nest amongst nettles and brambles, 
generally near the ground, but not resting upon it. It is 
a very slovenly bird, as far as the structure of its nest goes, 
which is composed of fibrous roots and the stems of cleavers, 
It lays four or five eggs of a whitish underground, blotched 
and spotted, with two shades of brown or paledelicate pink, 
with dark red spots and blotches. 
THE PARTRIDGE. 
from ten to twenty eggs are laid by the Partridge, of « 
pale yellow-brown, without any spots. There has been 
some diversity of opinion as to the time of hatching, some 
holding that the third week of June is the time, whilst 
others say the middle of the following month; but I 
think that the locality in which the bird is found has 
something to do with this difference of time. She does 
not make any nest worth speaking about, merely scratch- 
ing and trampling the grass, weeds, &c., down. Her nest 
is situated on the ground in standing grass, cornfields, 
among brackens, weeds, &c., mostly in arable districts 
