School: Cnoc Cairn, Imleach Iubhair (roll number 10731)

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1. Bird-Lore (continued)

   

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   A sparrow's nest is built in the ordinary way; she lays about five speckled eggs. The robin lays about four bluish speckled eggs. The wren's nest is built in a different manner; she makes a spherical nest with an entrance hole on one side. She lays about twenty eggs. They are speckled brown, and there is never a glugar in the clutch. From local observation, it has been noted that the mother wren feeds each little gearreach in turn, and never misses one, and also she gives an equal share to each. The jackdaws lay dark speckled eggs, about four. Similarly with the crow. Blackbirds and thrushes hatch about five blue eggs of the same hue as those laid by a duck. The starling hatches about six dark-spotted eggs. The magpie lays four speckled eggs and her nest is built on the same principal as the wrens. A wonderful thing to note about her nest is that it is well-nigh inaccessable owing to the thorny barricade whe leaves round it. I have seen a magpie's nest thrown heavily to the ground from the top of a high tree, and it remained intact still. The architecture is really marvellous, to notice how the mud, straw and hairs are mixed and re-mixed to the consistency of mortar. Finches and linnets hatch about five speckled eggs. Plovers, curlews, snipe and larks lay on the ground. The lark's eggs are black, nature's camoflauge. The snipe's eggs stand on one end, five dark eggs as large as a water-hens. In this way the snipe which is a very slender bird is able to cover

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. agents (~1)
      1. animal-lore (~1,185)
         1. bird-lore (~2,478)

   Language

   English

   Informant

   Thomas Duhig

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   75

   Address

   Emly, Co. Tipperary