96 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. x. 



A PAIR of Hobbies (Falco s. subbuko) has bred for tliree 

 successive seasons in a wood in the Kettering district. The 

 nest contained four highly-incubated eggs on July 1st, 1916, 

 two of which were not only very small, but also feebly marked. 

 This is the only instance of a clutch of four eggs which I have 

 met with. Paul L. Parker. 



[There seems to be no definite record of the breeding of 

 the Hobby in Leicestershire since 1840 and 1841, when nests 

 were recorded by Harley at Houghton and Martinsliaw 

 Wood.— Eds.] 



EARLY MOVEMENT OF WADERS ON 

 LANCASHIRE COAST. 



On July 29th, 1916, on the shore near Southport, I came 

 across a party of twenty-seven Sanderlings (Calidris alba) 

 and also a flock of twenty Knots {Canuius canutus), these last 

 conspicuous in their full I'ed plumage of summer. As this 

 date is several weeks in advance of the usual period for the 

 appearance of these species on autumn passage, as given in 

 local works of reference, the occurrence seems worth noting. 



Thomas Baddeley. 



DIRECTION OF MARKINGS ON TERNS' EGGS. 



On referring to the figures of Terns' eggs in Seebohm's 

 Coloured Figures of the Eggs of British Birds (Plates 29 and 30), 

 I noticed that the characteristic twist so frequently seen 

 in the markings on these eggs is shown from left to right 

 downwards. This is shown more or less clearly in one of 

 the figures of each of our five British nesting species. During 

 the last few years, although I have measured and noted 

 details of the markings of nearly three thousand eggs of 

 Common Tern {Sterna hirundo) and Lesser Tern (*S^. albifrons), 

 I have never come across an egg with the twist in the direction 

 indicated by Seebohm, nor have I noticed it in other species, 

 but in every case it has been from right to left. I should 

 be glad to know whether this has also been the experience 

 of your readers. W. Rowan. 



[I have alwaj^s attributed the reversal of the rotary markings 

 in Seebohm's plates to the drawings not having been reveised 

 when transferred to stone for chromo-lithography. This 

 supposition is supported by the fact that two or three figures 

 on Plate 46 of Seebohm's History of British Birds, which 

 were prepared under his supervision, although very inferior 

 in execution. shoAv the rotation from right to left. The 



