502 CORVUS MONEDULA. 



[§ 2695. TJiree.—^i. Neot's, Huntingdonshire, 28 April, 1864. 

 From Mr. Kowley. 



From a nest of four in a chimney at Priory Hill.] 



\S 2696. i'"'owr.— Norfolk, 29 April, 1867. From Mr. Norgate, 



1875.] 



[§ 2697. Fwe.—Y\\iiQ\\, 28 April, 1875. From Mr. Norgate, 



1878.] 



\S 2698. i^oz^r.— Cassiobm-y Park, Herts., 30 April, 1872. 

 " C. B. W." From Mr. C. B. Wharton, 18-87.] 



[§2699. i^o^^r.—Cassiobury Park, 26 April, 1874. "C.B.W." 

 From Mr. C. B. Wharton, 1887. 



These eight eggs were received by me from Mr. Wharton, who wrote with 

 them as follows: — "Many years ago, when I exhibited them at a meeting of 

 the Zoological Society, you seemed to take an interest in four Jackdaw's eggs 

 that I had found daubed all over with clay, evidently by the bird itself. 1 now 

 send them to you (one, you will see, I washed to prove what they were), and 

 hope you will do me the pleasure to accept them. In the same box I send you 

 four more eggs (not daubed) that I took from the very same hole two years 

 afterwards. The piece of clay (with marks of the bird's beak upon it) that I 

 found in the nest with the first four eggs I send to you in a separate box. I 

 may remark that the nest was in a difficult place to get at, and could only be 

 reached with the aid of a rope. I have sold my egg-collection, but these 

 seemed too good to go to a stranger." 



I perfectly remember Mr. Wharton shewing these eggs to the Zoological 

 Society, and I think it was while they and the lump of mud were quite fresh, 

 so that it was probably on the 7th of May, 1872, on which evening I attended a 

 meeting ; but no notice of the exhibition was taken in the printed ' Minutes,' as 

 some people present either disbelieved the story or saw nothing remarkable in it. 

 Having forgotten exactly what Mr. Wharton's explanation of the curious fact 

 was, I asked him, when writing to thank hi in for the gift, how he accounted 

 for it. He accordingly replied : — ''The nest was placed about fifteen inches in 

 from the end of a large broken branch. My theory is that this particular 

 Jackdaw once found a Jay seeking his eggs (Cassiobury Park swarmed with 

 Jays), and in this instance daubed them over with clay so that they might not 

 be so easily seen by a bird flying past. But even then he lost them, thanks to 

 his flying out as I passed beneath. The next year no eggs were laid in that 



