Identifier: birdsofbritishis00cowa (find matches)
Title: The birds of the British Isles and their eggs
Year: 1919 (1910s)
Authors: Coward, T. A. (Thomas Alfred), 1867-1933
Subjects: Birds -- Great Britain Birds -- Eggs Great Britain
Publisher: London New York : F. Warne
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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Text Appearing Before Image:
^ •f >■;? Bluethi-oat.
Text Appearing After Image:
1 // t)3. Nest of Bluethroat. P221. STONECHAT. 223 captured on the wing, the robust little bird dodging swiftly afterthem with more agility than its build suggests. Seeds areoccasionally eaten, but most of the food consists of insects andtheir larvse, small worms and spiders, and Miss Turner saw onepair bring several young lizards to the nestlings. The argu-ment that the Stonechat is a valuable destroyer of insect pestsis rather contradicted by its partiality for spiders and lizards—themselves the foes of insects. The nest is cleverly hidden at the foot of a gorse or otherbush, in heather or a clump of grass, on or very near theground ; it is built of moss, grass and roots, with a little woolor fur added at times, and lined with fine bents, hair and a fewfeathers. The five to six pale blue-green eggs (Plate 79) areoften zoned with fine reddish speckles, or are clouded withred; they are laid as a rule in April, and a second brood isreared. One point has often struck me—the great va

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