12 DUNNOCK. 
of May: three are sometimes hatched. Meyer, in his ‘British 
Birds,’ mentions having seen a nest on the 21st. of January, 
and found one with a newly-laid egg in it on the 22nd. of 
July. The same situation is frequently resorted to from 
year to year. 
Male; weight, near six drachms; length, from five inches 
and three quarters to six and a quarter; bill, dark brown, 
lighter at the base; the corners of the mouth dull yellow; 
iris, dark blackish brown with a tint of red. Head and 
crown, dark bluish grey streaked with brown; neck on the 
sides, dark bluish grey streaked with brown; nape, grey, 
streaked longitudinally with brown; chin, throat, and breast, 
rather dark bluish grey, the latter lighter lower down, and 
on the sides pale yellowish. brown, the centres of the feathers 
darker; back above, brown, the centres of the feathers 
reddish, and the outsides yellowish brown, thus forming dark 
streaks of an oval shape. 
The wings, which when closed reach to about a third of 
the length of the tail, and expand to the width of eight 
inches and three quarters, have the first feather very small, 
the second a little longer than the seventh, but shorter than 
the sixth, than which the third is a little shorter, the fourth 
and fifth nearly equal in length, but the fourth rather the 
longest, and the former very little longer than the sixth. 
Greater and lesser wing coverts, yellowish brown, the middle 
ones tipped with whitish, forming a mark across the wings; 
primaries, dark dusky brown; secondaries, dark dusky brown; 
tertiaries, also dark dusky brown, margined with reddish 
brown; larger and lesser under wing coverts, brown, bordered 
with whitish. The tail, which is slightly forked, and rather 
curved downwards, and has the side feathers a little bent 
outwards, is dusky brown, the feathers narrowly edged with 
reddish brown; upper tail coverts, brown; under tail coverts, 
pale yellowish brown or slate-colour, the centres of the feathers” 
dark along the shafts; legs and toes, dark yellowish orange 
brown; claws, black, the hind claw as large again as either 
of the others. 
The female is scarcely to be distinguished trom the male, 
but is smaller, measuring in length from five inches and a 
half to nearly six inches; the wings expand to the width of 
eight inches and a half; her plumage is more dull, the spots 
larger, and the lower part of the back more olive-coloured. 
The young before the first moult have the bill light 
