The Hawkeye Ornithologist axd Ooi.ogist. 



35 



containing five eggs. The nest is 

 composed of dried grass, lined with 

 tows hair; the ground color of the 

 eggs is buff, mottled all over with 

 yellow-brown. The eggs are carefully 

 packed and we prepare to scramble 

 up the side of a cascade, when we 

 notice a water ouzel fly from the 

 roc-ks on the opposite side; with a 

 slight wetting of the feet we reach 

 the other side and are pleased to find 

 a nest, which is a beautiful ball of 

 moss, as large as a man's head, with 

 a small hole at the side for the bird 

 to enter. It contains five white eggs, 

 average size 1.05 by .70. Further on 

 we find two more nests in similar sit- 

 uations near the side of a cascade, 

 one was ready to receive eggs and 

 the other contained four eggs slight- 

 ly incubated. The water ouzel or 

 dipper is a common bird in this dis- 

 trict; nearly every cascade has its 

 pair of water crows as the bird is 

 called here. 



Two other species of wagtail occur 

 in this gorge, the pied' wagtail and 

 the grey wagtail, but we do not find 

 nests on this visit. Over our heads 

 hangs a kestril hawk, and in front of 

 ns we disturb a heron, whose slow, 

 lazy flight tells us he is gorged with 

 trout. The Heronry is a few miles 

 away atQ-argrave, where about thirty 

 nests are occupied every season. On 

 striking an old tree stump all cover- 

 ed over with ivy, a winter wren flies 

 out and exposes to us the nest and 

 seven eggs. "We do not touch the 

 eggs. The nest is something like 

 that of the water ouzel, only much 

 smaller, with an entrance at the side; 

 it is made of twigs and moss, lined 

 with feathers. The eggs are crystal 

 white, spotted with brown and pur- 

 ple. The nest of this bird is seldom 

 disturbed, for in Yorkshire, they say: 

 "The robin and the wren 

 Are God's cock and hen." 



The robin nests in this district. 

 How beautiful are its eggs, something 



like those of the cactus wren, but 

 more pinky and much smaller. The 

 American robin was called after the 

 . English rooin, having a red breast 

 like that bird, and both frequent the 

 habitation of man; one is a warbler, 

 the other a thrush. Passing under 

 a cedar tree, we notice a beautiful 

 little nest resting on a branch about 

 six feet above the ground. It con- 

 tained five eggs of the common red- 

 poll, of a pale bluish-green ground, 

 with a zone of rich rusty brown 

 round the large end; size .65 by .50. 

 This bird is plentiful in Yorkshire, 

 where I have found many nests, but 

 it is never found breeding in the 

 south of England. After examining 

 a nest and eggs of the chaffinch, a 

 beautiful specimen c" bird architec- 

 ture, we reach the end Of the gorge. 

 Here a waterfall prevents us follow- 

 ing the stream further, so we begin 

 to climb the cliff on our left and in 

 ten minutes reach the: top safely. 



Turning back on the cliff top we 

 enter a small fir wood and startle a 

 magpie from its nest. My brother 

 climbs the tree like a squirrel and 

 finds it to contain seven well marked 

 eggs, though five is the usual number 

 of eggs laid by this bird. The kestril 

 hawdv breeds in this wood, and usu- 

 ally lays four or five eggs in a mag- 

 pie's nest. The eggs are light red, 

 blotched with deeper red. A series 

 of forty eggs before me, show great 

 varieties in color. A small bird is no- 

 ticed climbing up a trunk of a tree, 

 and approaching quietly, we find it 

 is a creeper. Close by was its nest, 

 a mass of twigs and rubbish cram- 

 med between the loose bark of a fir 

 tree; it contained six white eggs, 

 spotted with red-brown, chiefly at 

 the larger end. In this wood the 

 golden-crowned kinglet, calledin this 

 district gold-crested wren, breeds. Its 

 nest, one of the most beautiful of all 

 are English nests, is usually built 

 below the branch of a fir tree, being 



