180 



Tbe Natuealist. 



The second nest, proved to be a twite's also, also with five eggs^ 

 and was in an exactly similar spot, and about two inches from the 

 ground. I thought it best to take this nest and the eggs home with 

 me for measurements, which I here subjoin : Depth of nest inside, 

 1^ inches ; outside, 4 inches ; diameter at the top, inside, 1| inches ; 

 outside, 4 inches. Externally it is composed of fine heather stems, 

 roots and sedge leaves, loosely compacted. There is no middle layer 

 of feathers, but the materials become more and more mixed with 

 sheep^s wool, and more closely woven, till internally it is lined with 

 wool, mixed only with a very few fine grasses, and neatly finished off 

 with a thin coat of black horsehair. The eggs resemble those of a 

 lesser redpoll in colour and size (though in the eggs of these first two 

 nests and in those of two other nests we afterwards found with four 

 eggs each, there was some variation in both these points), except in 

 being broader in proportion to their length, and blunter at the narrow 

 end ; they are -J J inches long and broad, bluish white, finely 

 spotted and blotched with light purplish shell spots, and smaller 

 darker surface spots, principally near the larger end. The two other 

 nests subsequently found were both in dead furze bushes, and about 

 eighteen inches from the ground. In the second nest^ four out of the 

 five eggs were entirely without spots of any kind. 



The finding of the twite^s nest is the more unusual, as the moor is 

 only about 80 feet above sea level, and the bird is only known with 

 certainty to have nested in Yorkshire upon the Cleveland Hills, and 

 other moorlands at a considerable elevation. It was recorded by 

 Mr. Allis to have bred on Thorne waste in 1844, and this record 

 seems not to have been generally received as correct. W e are now, 

 however, inclined to think that Mr. Allis was probably warranted in 

 ■what he stated. 



Going on, we found a peewit's nest with four eggs, the nest com- 

 posed of a few of the wettest and spongiest, bits of reed stem, soaked 

 with water and placed on a tuft of moss, surrounded with water. This 

 was the only lapwing's nest with eggs we saw,» being a little too late 

 for fresh eggs. Snipe were very numerous indeed, and there was 

 generally one drumming in the air as long as we were on the moor. 

 Kedshanks seemed fairly abundant, and there were at least two pairs 

 (and probably a good many more), as Mr. Knubley saw four on the 

 wing together, but they did not seem to have eggs at the time of our 

 Tisit, though we found one incomplete nest which seemed to belong 

 to this bird. 



Of the teal, which has been said to breed on Pilmoor, we saw no 



