THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



47 



'mg the power of preventing it when their attach - 

 ent is fatal. 



A volume might be written about the eggs of 

 sects, but you must observe and find out for 

 ■urselves. Next week we shall have something 

 say about larvce. 



fESTS AND EGGS OF OUR 

 COMMON BIRDS. 



By S. L. Mosley. 

 BUNTINGS, 

 f iE Common Bunting is the largest bird of this 

 uss. It frequents hedges, sitting on the top, 

 cering its grating-like note. The nest is placed i 

 i the ground, among coarse grass, sometimes in 

 ■lift. The nest is composed of the same material j 

 1 ed with fine fibrous roots or hair. The eggs are 

 jiyish, sometimes tinted with rose color, with | 

 lown and almost black streaks and shades, after ! 

 m usual Bunting fashion. The Black-headed \ 

 1 nting frequents reeds by the sides of rivers, 

 ■.e nest is built of the same -material as the last, 

 Id is also placed upon, or very near the ground, 

 t: never far from water. The eggs are somewhat 

 lie those of the Chaffinch, but darker, being 

 genish, spotted and streaked with olive brown, 

 fce Yellow Bunting, or Yellow -hammer, is very 

 cnmon, and its nest and eggs are known to every 

 »<oolboy. The eggs are rather subject to variations, 

 $oe being white, with very distinct lines of black 

 o purple, others are shaded with reddish-brown. 

 J» pattern of the markings in some specimens 

 k.'xquisite, and at least a dozen eggs of this bird 

 mi be required, in order to show the variety of 

 fc.erns and markings, which should be taken 

 fen as many different nests ; it is not only cruel 

 take all the eggs in one nest, but all the eggs 

 a by one bird are generally very similar. In 

 1 south of England there is a much rarer kind, 

 :;ed the Cirl Bunting, the nest and eggs of 

 *ch are very similar to the last, but generally 

 »ier plumper, and more constant in the markings 

 vch are always composed of streaks, but the 

 »i should be seen to be certain ; they may be 

 :iwn by having a black throat. 



FINCHES, 

 he Chaffinch is one of the prettiest of our 

 tmon birds, and the nest which it builds is 

 ccely less so. It is generally placed in the fork 

 f tree, and is composed of moss, lichen and 

 rd, lined with hair and feathers, the structure 

 «g very compact. The eggs are greenish-drab 

 tiked with brown; I have occasionally mej 



with them entirely pale blue. The Tree Sparrow 

 and House Sparrow are very nearly alike, but the 

 former is rather smaller, and builds in holes in 

 trees or high walls. The House Sparrow builds 

 under the eaves of houses, or among the branches 

 of trees ; its nest, like the other bird's, is composed 

 of hay and straw, lined with feathers. The eggs 

 of the House Sparrow are well-known, being 

 white, spotted with ashy-gray ; those of the Tree 

 Sparrow are similar, but rather blunt at the small 

 end and more thickly blotched with brown. Both 

 kinds are very variable, and it is best to see the 

 birds to be certain ; The Tree Sparrow has a red 

 I patch on the top of the head, where the House 

 Sparrow is brown. Every schoolboy knows the 

 Greenfinch or Green Linnet, and also its eggs, 

 which are white, spotted or streaked with red- 

 brown. The Hawfinch is a rare bird in the north 

 of England, but is met with in the south in 

 Epping Forest and other places. This bird has a 

 very large bill and short tail ; its nest is a very 

 loose structure composed of twigs, but always with 

 honeysuckle interwoven, and lined with roots and 

 hair. The eggs are "pale olive, spotted with 

 black, or streaked with dusky grey." The Gold- 

 finch builds in shrubs and bushes, in the south of 

 England, a nest somewhatlike that of theChaffinch. 

 The eggs are pale bluish- white, spotted or streaked 

 with red at the larger end. The nest of the Linnet 

 should be sought for on rough commons where 

 there are plenty of furze bushes ; it is composed 

 of moss, grass, fibrous roots and feathers. The 

 eggs are nearly white, spotted with red-brown. 

 The Lesser Redpole is not rare in the north of 

 England, building its nest in bushes or hawthorn 

 hedges, and is composed of moss and dried grass, 

 lined with the soft down from the catkins of the 

 willow. The eggs are bluish-green, with red spots 

 principally at the larger end. The Twite is a 

 mountain bird, placing its nest among the heather ; 

 it is composed principally of dry grass, lined with 

 wool. The eggs are rather larger than those of 

 the Redpole, paler, and the spots are redder. 

 The Bullfinch cannot well be mistaken for any 

 other bird. I have generally found its nest in 

 banks among tree roots, but it is said also to 

 build in garden and other hedges. The nest is- 

 composed of twigs lined with fibrous roots, and 

 the eggs are of a beautiful bluish-green tint, 

 streaked and spotted \*ith red and brown, some- 

 times forming into large irregular blotches at the 

 large end* 



