VOL. X.] NOTES. 187 



to its refuge, and finally retired there for the night. On 

 December 2nd, the same thing happened in the evening, 

 and I left it there. Indeed it was too high up to examine. 

 It has not been seen since, though others have told me that 

 it was about the garden for a week or so before the two dates 

 mentioned. I have no doubt as to the species, though the 

 bird's proceedings were most abnormal. There was a sharp 

 frost at the time, doubtless the cause of its seeking shelter 

 in so strange a place. D. Percy Harrison. 



[We believe that this is the latest date hitherto recorded 

 for the Cuckoo in the British Isles ; the latest previous record 

 being November 26th, 1900, when one was obtained at the 

 Skulmartin lightship, co. Down. — Eds.] 



SEVEN EGGS IN NEST OF TAWNY OWL. 



On March 4th, 1915, Mr. A. Mayall found a Tawny Owl {Strix 

 a. aluco) sitting on four eggs, in a hollow tree in Bomere 

 Woods near Shrewsbury. He revisited the nest on March 

 26th, when he foimd the same (or another) bird sitting on 

 seven eggs. He caught and ringed her. He again visited 

 the nest on April 26th, when there were four young owls in 

 it, but no trace of the other three eggs. He again caught 

 the old bird (which had no ring on its leg) and put a ring on 

 it. On May 3rd he photographed the owlets ; the old bird 

 was very aggressive, and attacked fiercely, flying at his head, 

 striking twice and drawing blood each time. The above is 

 a brief statement of facts, and they present a very interesting 

 problem for ornithologists. The normal clutch in the Tawny 

 Owl is three or four, very rarely five. How came there to be 

 seven in this nest ? I thuik there can be little doubt that 

 there were two distinct clutches of four and three eggs 

 respectively, A\ith a possible interval of three weeks between 

 the lajdngs. The question arises then — were they laid by 

 one and the same, or by two different birds ? It is evident 

 from the sequel that the four first laid hatched out, while the 

 three laid subsequently disappeared. The fact that Mr. 

 Mayall ringed a sitting bird on March 26th, while the one on 

 the nest a month later had no ring on its leg, seems to suggest 

 that there were two birds occupying the same nest. On the 

 other hand, the bird first ringed may have got rid of the ring 

 in the meantime. A further possibility is that the first 

 bird met its death in the interval, and the male bird secured 

 a new mate immediately. Such events are of frequent 

 occurrence amongst the Falconidce, but do they happen in the 

 Strigidce ? H. E. Forrest. 



