68 L£GGS AND 4“GG-COLLECTING. 
yellowish-brown, mottled and clouded or blotched with 
red or olive brown; variable both in ground-colour and 
markings. 
THE OYSTER-CATCHER. 
Tus bird lays its eggs, which number three or four—three 
being the general rule—on the bare ground, mostly in 
slight declivities, taking care that they are above high- 
water-mark. Sometimes a few bents, pebbles, or broken 
shells are used as a sort of lining. The eggs are stone or 
cream colour, of a variety of shades, blotched with dark 
brown, occasionally streaked and spotted with a lighter 
hue. The markings are variable in character and position, 
some being pretty equally distributed over the eggs, whilst 
others are inclined to form a belt round the larger end. 
THE COLE TIT. 
Trunks of trees, holes in walls and banks made by rats, 
moles, or mice, are selected for incubation purposes by this 
little bird. The nest is built of moss, wool, and hair, and 
contains from five to eight, or even nine eggs, white, 
spotted and freckled with light red or red-brown. 
THE GUILLEMOT. 
Tue Guillemot makes no nest at all, but deposits its single 
egg on the ledges of sea-cliffs in a great many places 
round our coasts. A verbal description of it is almost 
useless, as the colouring presents such a wonderful variety 
of tints. The ground-colours are white, cream, yellowish- 
green, blue, reddish-brown, pea-green, purplish-brown, &c. 
Some are profusely spotted and blotched or streaked with 
black, black-brown, or grey in great variety ; whilst others 
