BRITISH BIRDS. 
33 
dingy white ; the sides are reddish yellow, and marked 
with narrow streaks of brown : the ridge of the wings, 
and part of the lesser coverts are olive brown; the 
feathers next the greater coverts are dark brown, 
deeply edged with dull white ; all the rest of the wing 
feathers are of a darkish brown, more or less margined 
with pale edges : the legs and toes are of a dull yellow. 
This bird frequents woods and plantations, and sits 
on the highest branches of trees, whence it rises sing- 
ing, to a considerable height, and descends slowly, 
with its wings set up and its tail spread out like a fan. 
Its note is full, clear, melodious, and peculiar to its 
kind. It builds its nest on the ground, commonly at 
the root of a bush, near the edge of a coppice or planta- 
tion. The outside is made of moss ; the inside of the 
stems of dried grass, slightly bound together with a 
very few hairs. The eggs, seven in number, are 
blotched with deep vinous purple; the ground colour 
of them partakes of a tint of the same, but much paler. 
