LETTERS 



FOUR BIRDS IN A LONG-TAILED TIT'S NEST. 



To the Editors of British Birds. 



Sirs, — On May 5th I found a Long-tailed Tit's nest 

 about five feet from tlie ground in an isolated hawthorn, 

 and as I approached it a bird flew out. Wishing to see 

 how many eggs there were, I began to remove some 

 overhanging branches, and was surprised to see two more 

 birds leave the nest, and I got my hand to the nest in 

 time to capture a fourth as it was about to fly out. This 

 last was an adult bird with incubation spots on the vent. 

 I then examined the nest and found it contained ten eggs 

 in an early stage of incubation. I have never heard of a 

 similar case, and am rather at a loss as to how to account 

 for it ; perhaps some of your readers may be able to 

 enlighten me. 



Hemel Hempstead, J. L. Bonhote. 



May 9th, 1907. 



THE EAR OF THE WOODCOCK. 



To the Editors of British Birds. 



Sirs, — On my shooting a Woodcock last December (1906), 

 the man, when he picked it up, said, " You have shot him 

 right through the head " ; and, on looking, there was 

 indeed a hole, but not a shot hole — it was the orifice of 

 the ear ! And I was astonished to find it placed in front 

 of the eye — not behind it, as is the case with practically 

 every other vertebrate. Consulting my bird books, I found 

 no reference in any one of them to this remarkable 

 fact, and from conversation with many of the leading 

 ornithologists I gather it is not generally, if at all, known. 

 My friend, Mr. W. P. Py craft, lias the subject now in 

 hand, and he proposes to deal at length with it in the 

 pages of British Birds at no distant date. 



Charles Whymper. 



May 14th, 1907. 



