786 Letters, Extracts, and Notes. [Ibis, 



but stronger statement is made by Colonel Verner (' My 

 Life among the Wild Birds/ etc., p. 159) : " Curiously 

 enough they never seem to lay more tliau three eggs in 

 place of the four or five usually found in nests in England. 

 I mention this l)ecause I have never seen or heard of a nest 

 with more than three eggs.'' 



The first nest found by me in southern Spain (April 30, 

 1905) contained four eggs; the second, on May 1, had five 

 nearly fledged young. In 1906 Mr. R. H. Read and I 

 found nests with four eggs on at least two occasions, and in 

 1907 I have a note of a nest with four eggs. During a visit 

 in the present year to south Spain with Messrs. Lings, 

 Tomkiuson, and Peters, we kept careful notes of the contents 

 of nests found, with the following result : Blackbirds' nests 

 found twelve : one with five eggs, five with four eggs, while 

 the remaining six contained either one or two eggs, and 

 were probably incomplete. 



The evidence quoted by Lieut.-Col. Meinertzhagen in 

 this case is quite inconclusive, but there aie undoubtedly 

 certain species (such as the Wheatear) which lay larger 

 clutches in the high north than with us ; while on the other 

 hand tiie Red-backed Shrike lays on an average more eggs 

 in Corsica than in England. 



Eavier's statement that the Blackbird breeds three times 

 in the year near Tangier is also inconclusive, as the same 

 thing frequently occurs in the British Isles. 



Yours truly, 



Appleton Rectory, F. C. R. JoURDAIN. 



Abingdon, Borksliire. 

 16 July, 1919. 



B. 0. U. Godmau-Salvin Medal Fund. 



Subscriptions amounting to .€180 5^. Sd. have now l)een 

 received from Members of the Union towards the proposed 

 Godman-Salvin medal fund, and the Committee are taking 

 active steps to obtain sketches and designs from which to 

 select the most suitable for reproduction. 



