170 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



compact structure of hay interwoven with wool and goat's-hair, 

 and having an inside lining of vegetable down and a few feathers. 



I could not make out how long the bird took to complete it, 

 nor if both sexes took part in its construction. 



It contained five hard-incubated eggs, which six days later 

 hatched ; the colour of these eggs was a faint bluish-white, very 

 sparingly spotted with dark-brown; purplish-grey spots were 

 noticeable about the larger end. 



This nest was found on May 4th, 1910. 



I was told that in April, 1914, another nest was obtained 

 from the same locality by a local egg-collector. 



14. Greenfinch. 

 Ligurinus chloris, Linn. — Verdun. 



As a bird of passage the Greenfinch is usually common, but 

 as a breeding bird it is here exceedingly rare. It generally 

 begins to arrive towards the first week of October, and continues 

 till late in November. Fresh arrivals are often noticed in 

 January ; towards March, however, all of them depart. 



Though I have often heard from other observers that its 

 nests are sometimes found, I have only succeeded in finding but 

 one myself, and this was in May, 1910. It was built in an olive- 

 tree at St. George's Bay (San Giorgio a Mare) ; in structure it was 

 rather bulky but neat, being composed of hay, withered leaves of 

 the common wormwood, and some fine straw on the outside, the 

 inside having a lining of fine rootlets, hair, and a few feathers. 



Both sexes took part in its construction, which they com- 

 pleted in ten days. 



The eggs were four in number, their ground-colour white, 

 very faintly tinged with blue and spotted with reddish brown, 

 more confluently about the thicker end. 



15. Spanish Sparrow. 



Passer hispaniolensis , Temm. — Ghasfur tal beit. 



This is the Common Sparrow of Malta, and certainly our 



most common breeder too ; it builds its nest in holes of walls, 



in fissures of rocks, and sometimes also in trees, both out in the 



country, in villages, and in towns. 



The nest is a very rough and bulky structure of straw, hay, 



