VOL. VII.] LETTERS. 63 



SMALL CLUTCHES OF EGGS. 



To the Editors of British Birds. 



Sirs, — At the beginning of the nesting-season I was struck with 

 the "shortness" of the clutches laid by birds this year, and have 

 since made a note of the contents of nests I have found, with the 

 following, to me, remarkable results. All the nests were watched 

 for some time and the clutches are all complete. 



Bird. 



Rook 



Thrush 



Blackbird 



Redbreast 



Stonechat 



Herring-Gull 

 Hedge-Sparrow 

 Lapwing . . 



Chaffinch .. 



Chlffchaff . . 

 Willow-Warbler 



Magpie 



Yellow Bunting 



House-Sparrow 



Wren 



Number of Nests. Eggs in Clutch. 



7 Four each. 



— Never more than four 



three. 



several 



11 



14 



2 



6 



3 

 5 



Never more than four ; several 

 three ; two of two. 



Two of five ; two of three ; 

 remainder four. 



One of five ; one of four ; two 

 of three. 



^Mostly two ; several only one. 



Four in each. 



More threes than fours ; three 

 one only. 



One of five , f oui' of three ; 

 remainder foiu-s. 



Five and four. 



One of six ; two of five ; three 

 of four. 



Two of four ; one of one only. 

 Four of tliree ; one of two. 



One only of five ; remainder 

 fours or threes. 



One of six ; one of five ; one 

 of four ; one of three. 



One of four ; three of tlxree. 

 All fives. 



Swallow 



Bullfinches, 

 Whitethroats and 

 Lesser Whitethroats 



It is a matter cf universal complaint among the local farmers and 

 others that hens and ducks, especially the latter, are all laying very 

 " short." The figures taken as a whole seem so very much below 

 the average, that I thought they might be worth recording. 



Lewis R. W. Loyd. 



Beer, Devon. 



