314 BRITISH BIRDS. 



day, both the remaining eggs were sucked. On the same day 

 I found another Tree-Pipit's nest, containing three eggs of the 

 grey-blotched type, and a rather small Cuckoo's egg with a 

 pale cream ground-colour, sprinkled all over with small dark 

 spots, usually only sparingly present on Cuckoos' eggs. 



That Cuckoos do not always remove one or two of the eggs 

 of the foster-parents, I think is proved by the fact that at the 

 end of June, 1910, I found in Sussex a nest containing seven 

 eggs of the Tree-Pipit and one Cuckoo's egg, all of which were 

 well incubated. 



On June 21st, 1910, in Surrey, I found a Pied Wagtail's nest 

 containing three rather small eggs and tAvo Cuckoos' eggs. 

 One of the latter was large and similar to a Skylark's egg, 

 with a zone of darker brown markings round the larger end 

 and a few small dark spots characteristic of Cuckoos' eggs. 

 The other Cuckoo's egg was smaller, with the ground-colour 

 similar to that of a Pied Wagtail's egg, with large 

 blotches on the larger end. The top of the egg was capped 

 with a patch of violet-grey markings, and a few small dark spots 

 were also distributed sparinglv over the egg. A friend of mine 

 in Sussex gave me a clutch of four Red-backed Shrike's eggs 

 and a Cuckoo's egg taken from the nest on June 4th, 1910. 

 The Cuckoo's egg is very striking : the ground-colour is a 

 pale pink and the usual markings of a rich red-brown, very 

 like those on some Kestrels' eggs ; the usual characteristic 

 smaU spots are also of an intense red-brown. 



C. W. COLTHRUP. 



THE DIURNAL FLIGHT OF THE BARN-OWL. 



The Barn-Owl {Strix flammea) has been regarded by many 

 as a purely night-flying bird, having been given the reputation 

 of being utterly unable to see its way about by the hght of 

 day ; a few notes on its diurnal flight may therefore be of 

 interest. 



The period at which this si^ecies may be most often seen 

 abroad whilst the sun is yet high in the heavens, is wlien there 

 are young to provide for. At such a time I have frequently 

 known the Barn-Owl to make flights far from home throughout 

 a summer's day, obviously not in the least incommoded by 

 the brilhant sunshine. Indeed, its vision must be very acute, 

 for it may be seen to f)ounce and secure some luckless rodent 

 from amongst the herbage, where its presence cannot possibly 

 be an easy matter to detect. I have also known it convey 

 food to its sitting mate (before any of the eggs had hatched) 

 during the daytime. 



