Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 4 (1900).djvu/458

424 containing nest of Great Tit and five eggs. May 2nd, 8 a.m. Eight eggs; old bird absent, and not looked at again to-day. May 3rd, 7 p.m. Found old one sitting without addition to clutch. May 13th, 1 p.m. Eight eggs still in nest. May 14th, 6 p.m. Six young hatched; two eggs remain. May 30th. Between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. the old birds visit the nest with food, sixty-four times within the hour; when leaving nest they invariably left for further supplies in an opposite direction. Feeding at this rate is not carried on throughout the day; they may sometimes be absent for a considerable time. Feeding commences about 4 a.m., and finishes about 7 p.m. June 2nd. The brood complete of eight young left their nest. In all probability the old one would commence incubation on May 2nd, with a result of twelve days, and an addition of, say, nineteen days for the young to remain within the nest.— (Clent, Worcestershire).

Nesting of the Common Sparrow (Passer domesticus).—Yarrell mentions the first batch of eggs laid usually consists of five to six; Morris practically quotes the same words; Macgillivray gives the laying four to six; Saunders states five to six; Seebohm goes one better, and says five to seven. My personal experience is that a clutch of six is most unusual, and does not happen in even one per cent, of nests containing the full laying. Nests with a clutch of four are about as numerous as those with five, and a remarkable quantity have a full complement of only three, at a rough estimate, say, fifteen per cent. There are many other remarks with which, after considerable experience, one does not care to agree, as, for instance, Seebohm adds it is probable that with those birds that build domed nests in branches of trees the habit is hereditary. He also adds that the Sparrow often sits upon the first egg as soon as laid; my experience being that, if the nest is placed in a hole, then the female will roost at the side of the nest, but in no way adding to their incubation until (taking, for instance, the laying of a clutch of five) the evening following the laying of the fourth egg, when incubation starts. Yarrell evidently infers that the early layings of the Sparrow contain the largest clutches of eggs. This is by no means invariably the rule; most frequently the same number is laid both in the second and third layings, and occasionally, as in this year, two nests containing six followed the robbery of the first laying, when previously nothing more than five could be found. Yarrell points out that the Sparrow may occasionally be seen in winter carrying materials to the holes they inhabit; this is evidently only for sleeping accommodation. The actual nesting commences as early as the first week in March, the complete lining of feathers not being added for many weeks hence, and then not until several eggs have been laid. Laying usually commences with great regularity in the Midlands during the second week in May. Three broods are usually reared if no molestation takes place; if the first two layings are robbed,