MOTES 



BIRDS COVERING THEIR EGGS AT NIGHT DURING 

 THE LAYING PERIOD. 



A POINT that appears to have received very little attention 

 is as to which birds cover their eggs or not at night during 

 laying. This point, of course, refers only to birds that habitually 

 leave the nest after laying an egg. 



All the Tits cover their eggs at night and leave them during 

 the day until they actually start incubation. In the case of 

 the Long-tailed Tit, both birds of the pair spend the night in 

 the nest, as a rule, during the laying and incubation periods. 

 Many other birds also cover the eggs at night, Pipits and 

 Buntings in particular. 



The Finches (Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Bullfinch, Linnet) also 

 cover the eggs at night, but rnay not start to do so until the 

 second egg is laid, or even later. 



These birds go on to the nest before sunset, and are away 

 early in the morning, the egg having been deposited in the 

 interval. 



My observations give the Thrushes and Hedge-Sparrow 

 as examples of birds that do not habitually cover their eggs 

 at night, and their time of depositing the egg is very variable 

 and in the daytime. 



The point seems to me rather an interesting one and needing 

 careful observation of a number of nests of each species. 

 Perhaps readers of British Birds can supply further instances 

 of each type. J. H. Owen. 



CROWS, ROOKS AND STARLINGS VERSUS 

 KESTRELS AND PEREGRINE FALCONS. 



Even in England it is no uniisual thing to see Carrion-Crows 

 (Corvus cor one) or Rooks (C. fnigilegus) pursuing Kestrels 

 {Falco tinnunculus) in the air. In France, where both 

 Kestrels and Crows were so much more plentiful, it was a 

 spectacle that was correspondingly frequent, and the following 

 notes on these occurrences and on others more or less like 

 them, may possibly be of interest. 



Usually the attack by the Crow is a rather desultory 

 affair. It gives one the impression that the Crow cannot 

 resist the temptation to worry the Hawk, but that he is not 

 inclined to be led far out of his way over it. Always, however, 



