The Grouse lays on an average about nine eggs; as many as fifteen have been found, but this number has been by some attributed to two birds, as they will sometimes build (if we may term it such) within a yard of each other. Their nests merely consist of a little hollow scratched out, and lined with heather or bent. The eggs are of a dirty white colour, covered with umber-brown spots. Both the old birds are very cunning in trying to decoy the intruder away from the whereabouts of the nest, feigning lameness or injury. THE KESTREL. The Kestrel lays four to seven eggs of a dirty white, sometimes with a bluish tinge, thickly covered with reddish-brown blotches. She generally makes no nest at all, but scratches a hollow in the soft earth on a ledge of rock situated on high mountain or sea-cliffs. The deserted nest of the crow is sometimes utilised. THE ROBIN. This beautiful little bird, the favourite of English children, builds her nest in walls and banks, where roots and moss abound. It is composed of moss, fibrous roots, and leaves, and is sometimes lined with hair. She lays five or six eggs of a very light gray, spotted with a dull light red; sometimes these spots are very few. THE REDPOLL. The eggs of this bird are four or five in number, of a very pale blue-green colour, spotted about the larger end with orange-red. The eggs retain much of their pretty colour after being blown, they are of such a beautiful blue. She makes her nest of hay and moss, lined inside with willow-down, and finishes it off in the most beautiful manner. She builds her nest in willows, alders, and other bushes that fringe streams and ponds in mountainous districts. THE RINGDOVE. The Ringdove makes a very loose, slovenly nest of twigs and sticks, and it is sometimes so badly built that the eggs may be seen through the bottom of the nest. She builds in fir, yew, or other trees, sometimes in ivy that grows upon rocks and trees, very near the ground. She lays two white eggs of a rounded oval shape. [Illustration: EGGS. 1. Golden-crested Wren. 2. Whitethroat. 3. Siskin. 4. Thrush. 5. Greenfinch. 6. Redstart. 7. Great Tit. 8. Teal. 9. Blackbird. ] THE WRYNECK. The eggs of this bird are from five to eight in number, of a pure white. She makes her nest in holes in the trunks of trees. It is made of dry, rotten wood, which is ground down to a kind of powder, and it has been found lined with moss and feathers. THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN.