Some naturalists describe the position of this bird's nest as on the ground; but, personally, I have generally found them in the niches of rocks, or under overhanging ledges or banks. The nest is composed of moss, bents, grass, horsehair, often lined with a coat of cow's-hair, which they rub off against walls and trees in the spring-time. This bird's eggs number five or six, and are of a grey colour, mottled and spotted with ochre-grey or brown, variable. [Illustration: EGGS. 1. Rock Pipit. 2. Cormorant. 3. Creeper. 4. Turtle Dove. 5. Shore Lark. 6. Gannet. 7. Quail. 8. Oyster-catcher. 9. Cole Tit. ] THE SMEW. The nesting-place of this bird is in high latitudes, such as north-east Russia, and the situation chosen is in the hollow trunk of a tree. The material of which the nest is composed is taken from the bird's body, and consists entirely of down. Her eggs number from seven to eight, very similar to those of the Wigeon, creamy-white in colour, fine-grained, and rather glossy. THE BLACK-HEADED BUNTING. Moist swampy localities are chosen by this bird as the situation for its nest, which is composed of dried grass, moss, and an inner lining of finer grass, reed-down, or horsehair, and generally, though not always, placed on the ground, among rushes or coarse long grass. It lays four or five eggs of a pale reddish-brown or grey with a rosy tinge, streaked, veined, and spotted with brown of a rich dark purple shade. THE GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER. The position of the Woodpecker's nest is in the hollow trunk of some tree. A hole generally about two feet deep is chosen, but the parent bird does not seem to consider any attempt at nest-building in any way necessary. The eggs are laid on pieces of wood chipped off inside, and number four or five, white, occasionally stained or dyed by the material on which they are laid. THE ROCK PIPIT. Ledges or crevices of rocks near the sea-shore are the favourite building-places of this bird. It collects such materials as dry grasses of various kinds, and seaweed, with an inner lining of fine grass, and occasionally horsehair. Its eggs number four or five, of a grey ground colour, occasionally slightly tinged with green. The spots are variable in shade, being sometimes greyish-brown, at others reddish; the underlying ones are always light grey. The spots are small, and more crowded at the larger end. THE CORMORANT. Rocky coasts are chosen by the Cormorant, which builds an ample nest of sticks, seaweed, and coarse grass on some ledge or shelf of sea cliff. Her eggs number from four to six, of a chalky-white colour, varied with pale blue or greenish tinge, which is really the colour of the proper shell, the white being only a rough coat. THE CREEPER.