Materials. Sticks and heath.

Eggs, 2. White.

TURTLE DOVE, Columba Turtur.

Situation. In very thick woods in the south-eastern counties of England, more especially Kent.

Materials. Twigs and sticks carelessly laid together.

Eggs, 2. White, very small compared with those of the ring dove and stock dove.

PHEASANT, Phasianus colchicus.

Situation. On the ground, amidst coarse grass and weeds, or in the scrub on the outskirts of woods: this bird is polygamous. Mr. Newton mentions (Zool. 4070) an instance of a pheasant occupying the dray of a squirrel in a Scotch fir: she hatched but did not rear her young; they were found dead in the nest.

Materials. Scarcely any, beyond the dried grasses among which it is placed.

Eggs, 8-13. Pale olive-green, unspotted.

CAPERCALLY, Tetrao Urogallus.

Situation. This bird was formerly abundant in Scotland, then became extinct, was reintroduced in 1838 on the domain of the Marquis of Breadalbane, and is now increasing.

Materials. Sticks and ling.

Eggs, 6-12. Pale red-brown, spotted and blotched with two shades of darker brown. "In 1829 I saw nine eggs of the capercally which were sent over from Norway to Lord Fife, to be hatched at Marr Lodge, Braemar. They were completely different in appearance from any other eggs of this interesting bird that have come under my notice. They were without any spots, and of a deep brown colour, with some scarcely perceptible yellow blotches."- Rev. James Smith (Zool. 2989). "All the eggs I have seen are exactly like those of the black grouse, except in size."-Mr. Bond.

BLACK GROUSE, Tetrao Tetrix.

Situation. On the ground on wild mountain heaths, particularly in wet or marshy places, where sundew is found: this bird is polyga

mous.

Materials. Ling, heath, grass; always sheltered by a tussock of coarse grass, a furze-bush or a bush of ling.

Eggs, 6-10. Gray, tinged with yellow-red, blotched with red-brown. RED GROUSE, Tetrao scoticus.

Situation. On mountain wilds in Scotland, North of England, Herefordshire, South Wales and Ireland. The Herefordshire habitat,

known as the Black Mountain district, although so well known to the sportsmen in the neighbourhood, seems to have escaped the notice of naturalists.

Materials. Ling, heath, bents, very little of either, the bird scratching a hole in which to lay her eggs. The hen bird only incubates, the cock remaining in the neighbourhood, and flying short distances before the intruder, to lead him away from the nest: as soon as the young come forth the cock and hen are equally assiduous in taking care of them.

Eggs, 7-13. Gray, sometimes white, blotched with umber

brown.

PTARMIGAN, Tetrao Lagopus.

Situation. On the ground on the stony mountain tops of Scotland and adjacent islands.

Materials. None: the hen scratches the ground, and lays her eggs in the cavity thus formed.

Eggs, 7-15. Pale-red brown, blotched with two shades of darker brown.

PARTRIDGE, Perdix cinerea.

Situation.

On the ground, in corn fields, standing grass, among weeds, &c., throughout all arable districts.

Materials. Nothing more than the stems of the corn-weeds growing in such places, scratched and trampled down.

Eggs, 10-20. Pale yellow-brown, unspotted: they are usually hatched about Midsummer Day, not the middle of July, as stated by most authors.

REDLEGGED PARTRIDGE, Perdix rubra.

Situation. On the ground in clover and corn fields in the eastern counties, particularly Norfolk and Suffolk. Mr. Newton mentions (Zool. 4073) an instance of a bird of this species building a nest and sitting on thirteen eggs on the thatch of a stack of barley.

Materials.

Dried leaves, in addition to the crop, whatever it may

be, in which the bird chooses its site.

Eggs, 12-18. Yellow-gray, spotted with red-brown.
QUAIL, Perdix Coturnix.

Situation. Generally in corn fields, among green corn.

Materials. None, unless the trodden and scratched blades of growing corn can be thus called.

Eggs, 12--20. Pale yellowish brown, speckled, spotted or blotched with brown.

STONE CURLEW, Edicnemus crepitans.

Situation. On the ground, especially in the south-eastern counties of England.

Materials.

Sometimes a very few bents and small straws.

Eggs, 2, 3. Testaceous-brown, blotched, spotted and streaked with lead-colour and umber-brown: pairs of eggs have often been found in the stony fallows at Aperfield, near Cudham, in Kent.

GOLDEN PLOVER, Charadrius pluvialis.

Situation. On mountain wilds and bogs in Scotland, the North of England, and Ireland.

Materials. Scarcely any, a few fragments of heather and dried grasses carelessly scraped together.

Eggs, 4. Cream-coloured, with large blotches of umber-brown of various shapes and sizes. The young bird is covered with down of two colours: it runs as soon as hatched.

DOTTERELL, Charadrius morinellus.

Situation. Summits of mountains in the North of England, "particularly those that are densely covered with the woolly fringe-moss (Trichostomum lanuginosum), which indeed grows more or less profusely on nearly all the most elevated parts of this alpine district."—Mr. Heysham. The particular hills on which the dotterell feeds are Helvellyn, Whiteside, Whatson Dod, Saddleback, Skiddaw, Carrick Fell, Grasmoor, Robinson, Gold Scalp and Great Gavel, on the Cumberland ranges; also Hoy in Orkney, and several localities in the Orkney Islands.

Materials. None: "they lay their eggs in a small cavity on dry ground covered with vegetation, and generally near a moderate-sized stone or fragment of rock."-Mr. Heysham.

Eggs, 3. Dark cream-colour or olive-brown, thickly blotched with dark brown or black.

RINGED PLOVER, Charadrius hiaticula.

Situation. On the sea-coast, among gravel or on sand near highwater mark. "Sometimes also on the links or sand-hills that line the coast, or even in a corn field, if immediately adjoining the shore."Mr. Selby.

Materials. Dried grasses, and a very small quantity of them. "Often, perhaps generally, lined, or more properly speaking paved, with small white stones, looking something like tessellated pavement; which not unfrequently remains perfect for a year or two after the young birds have left."—Mr. Bond.

Eggs, 4.

Pale stone-colour, marked all over with small black and

ash-coloured spots; they are invariably placed with the smaller ends together in the middle, thus occupying the least possible space. “In the spring of 1844, while staying on the Sussex coast, I found two nests of this bird, each with four eggs: I visited them at noon every day for nearly a week; I invariably found the bird on the nest, although the weather was very hot at the time. The parent bird, when disturbed, creeps along the shingle to the water's edge, and then flies a short distance, uttering its well-known cry."-Mr.Channell (Zool.1202). It is said that the ringed plover exposes her eggs to the sun's rays at noon: I think the preceding quotation shows the fallacy of this assertion.

KENTISH PLOVER, Charadrius cantianus.

Situation. On sand by the sea-coast of Kent and Sussex.

Materials. It makes no nest, but lays its eggs in a depression of the sand, and about the banks of shells which abound in some localities on the beach.

Eggs, 4. Pale testaceous-brown, spotted and streaked with black.
LAPWING, Vanellus cristatus.

Situation. On all waste grounds, whether upland or low marshes. Materials. It makes a depression on the surface, lined with straws and bents.

Eggs, 4. Dark olive-brown, blotched with black-brown. May be bought in any quantities in the London markets, to which they are brought as articles of luxury. The eggs of rarer birds often occur amongst them, but it requires a perfect knowledge of eggs to fix on the species to which such accidentally-obtained eggs belong.

OYSTERCATCHER, Hæmatopus ostralegus.

Situation. On the bare ground on our sea-coasts, especially of
Lincolnshire.

Materials. A few bents and small stones regularly arranged.
Eggs, 3, 4.

Stone-colour, blotched with dark brown and gray: sometimes streaked: they are invariably placed with the smaller ends in the middle.

HERON, Ardea cinerea.

Situation. The tops of high trees, almost invariably in societies called heronries, in one station only (in Pembrokeshire), on cliffs facing the sea.

Materials.

Sticks in large quantities, the interior lined with wool

and sometimes rags.

Eggs, 4, 5. Pale greenish brown.

BITTERN, Ardea stellaris.

Situation. On the ground in marshy places, always near the water's edge, amongst dense masses and clusters of reeds and flags. Materials. A few sticks, with abundance of dead reeds, flag-leaves and Carices.

Eggs, 4, 5. Pale greenish brown..

CURLEW, Numenius arquata.

Situation. On the ground, generally sheltered by heath, ling, or clumps of Carex or rush, in a cavity scraped out by the parent.

Materials. Dried heather, rushes or Carices.

Eggs, 4, the points meeting in the centre, pale olive-green, blotched with brown of two shades. The young, which run as soon as hatched, are covered with down, and do not possess the long curved beak of the parents.

WHIMBREL, Numenius phaopus.

Situation. On the ground in exposed heathy districts, on the Grampians, in Scotland, in the Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, &c. Materials. Dried heather and grass.

Eggs, 4. Dark olive-green, blotched with dark umber-brown.
REDSHANK, Totanus calidris.

Situation. On the summit of a tussock of grass or Carex, or on the ground in moist meadows.

Materials. Fine dried grass, in small quantities.

Eggs, 4. "Egg pale yellowish straw-colour, the dark spots often forming a zone at the larger end.”—Mr. Doubleday.

COMMON SANDPIPER, Totanus hypoleucos.

Situation. "It breeds upon the banks of rivers or lakes, taking care to make its nest beyond the reach of the usual floods; and frequently, should a corn field approach the edge of the water, it will retire within it. The immediate site of the nest is generally under a projecting tuft of grass or rush, where it scrapes rather a deep hole in the ground."—Mr. Selby.

Materials. The deep hole mentioned by Mr. Selby is lined with fine dried grass and leaves.

Eggs, 4. "The eggs are four in number, and not five, as stated by some authors; they are of a cream-yellow colour, with numerous spots of dark brown upon the surface, and others of a lighter hue appearing as it were underneath the outer shell."-Mr. Selby.

This elegant little bird is called the snipe and summer snipe, and is the species to which all the stories of snipes settling on rails, gates,