THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



23 



i some substance. Around the opening 

 the flower are numerous cilia which 

 hip the water and produce a current 

 .to the inside of the flower, and when 

 ly particle suitable for food comes along 

 ith the current it is retained for the ani- 

 al's use. The third and last class to 

 hich I shall call your attention is called 

 lageleltce and is separated from the other 

 T having a sort of funnel contrivance at 

 ie top of the animal out of which springs 

 - : long stalk or flagellum which lashes the 

 ater, and any food particles which touch 

 -' ie funnel stick to its surface and are ab- 

 : - rbed into the animal's 'substance. The 

 ajority of these animals, you must un 

 irstand, are very small, and cannot be 

 en without a microscope. They live in 



- agnant pools, ditches, or in the sea and 



' : nstitute the lowest forms of animal life, i 

 »j The lecture was delivered before the 

 uddersfield Literary and Scientific So- 

 ety, Oct. 20th, 1879, and was illustrated 

 ■■■■ «th beautiful photographs in the ox 



- ^drogen lantern and by specimens under 

 e microscope. 



ESTS AND EGGS OF OUR 

 COMMON BIRDS. 



By S. L Mosley. 



THRUSHES. 

 The Dipper frequents mountain streams, and 

 ilds under an old ar«h or among the rocks near 

 :ascade. I know a place near Hebden Bridge 

 Yorkshire, where a pair built their nest every 

 ar behind a waterfall, and the old birds would 

 ve to go through the water every time they go 

 or out. The nest is a round mass of moss lined 

 th dry leaves, and a small hole in one side to 

 t as doorway. Four or five eggs are laid of a 

 ire white. The Missel Thrush is one of our 

 mmonest birds, and you may often see him on 

 9 topmost branch of a tree, pouring forth a 

 ain of music. The nest is composed of dry 

 moss, &c, with finer grass or wool for the 

 ,;^iing, and is placed between two branches of a 

 1 tree. The color of the egg is greenish-white 

 th rather large brown or reddish blotches. The 

 : ' >ng Thrush is so common that we need not say 

 ything about it. Who does not know Thrush's 



eggs ? Blue with black spots. Sometimes, how- 

 ever, they are without spots. And the Blackbird 

 too, is so well known to every schoolboy, that it 

 would be a waste of time to describe either the 

 nest or eggs ; but they are more variable than 

 those of the thrush, and some beautiful varieties 

 sometimes occur, some being uncoloured pale blue- 

 green, while others are white spotted with the 

 the usual red-brown. The eggs of the Ring 

 Ouzel are somewhat similar to those of the Black- 

 bird, only more blunt at the small end, and rather 

 coarser in the spotting. The bird frequents the 

 Northern moor edges, and builds in banks and 

 hills, a nest composed of moss and fine grass ; but 

 no mud or cow's dung like that of the Blackbird. 



WARBLERS. 

 The Hedge-sparrow, or Dunnock, is known by 

 every birdnester, having bright blue-green eggs, 

 without spot or speck of any sort. The Robin is 

 as well known as the last. The Robin is very 

 familiar, and frequently breeds very near the habi- . 

 tation of man, in out-houses, in a flower pot, and 

 even a human skull has been used by a pair of 

 Robins to rear their brood in. The eggs are 

 generally cream color with red and brown spots ; 

 but sometimes they are pure white, unspotted. 

 The Redstart is one of the prettiest of our com- 

 mon English birds. The nest is generally situated 

 in a hole in a wall or a tree. One is recorded as 

 having built under a large flower pot that was 

 inverted on a garden walk, and the bird made use 

 of the hole in the bottom as a means of entrance 

 and exit. The eggs are blue-green, similar to 

 those of the Hedge-sparrow, but rather smaller 

 in proportion. The Stonechat is somewhat a local 

 bird, though by no means rare. We have met 

 with its nest at Flamboro' Head, Merwood Forest, 

 and the Isle of Wight. It should be looked for 

 in rough places, amongst furze-bushes, not in the 

 bushes themselves, but on or very near the ground. 

 The eggs are pale bluish-green, having a zone of 

 small red spots around the large end. The eggs 

 of the Whinchat are similar, but not so much 

 spotted, sometimes not at all, and are rather 

 darker in the ground color. The old birds should 

 be seen that you may be certain. They may be 

 distinguished by the male Stonechat having a black 

 head, a white patch on each side of the neck, and 

 one on the wings, and the chest a deeper chestnut 

 than the Whinchat. 



