"His name to all the hills;"
for he neither makes a nest nor troubles to rear his young, but leaves them to the tender mercies of unpaid nurses, being partial to the Wagtail, Hedge-sparrow, and Meadow Pipit, who are so affectionate that they have been known to follow and feed the young Cuckoo in a cage. Only one egg is found in a nest, which is of a reddish-grey, with a darker belt formed of numerous confluent spots at the thick end of the egg, but they are very variable.
THE PHEASANT.
Pheasants lay from eight to thirteen eggs of a pale olive-green or brown, without spots. Their nests are composed chiefly of the dried grass where it is situated, which is on the ground amongst weeds, coarse grass, or scrub, in the outskirts of woods. It has, however, been found occupying a Squirrel's drey in a Scotch fir, where she hatched her young, but did not rear them, as from some cause or other they died in the nest. This bird is polygamous.
EGGS.
1. Pied Wagtail. 2. Heron. 3. Woodcock.
4. Swift. 5. Black-headed Gull. 6. Snipe.
7. Chiff-Chaff. 8. Martin. 9. Hedge-Sparrow.