82 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. xiii. 



and May between 1813 and 1883, and one in June. In the 

 B.O.C. Migration Reports there are the following isolated 

 records : May 12th, 1911. Outer Gabbard Light : "several 

 coming from the east." May 6/yth, 1912 : " one at South- 

 wold Light." May loth, 1913 : " Suffolk (passing)." To 

 these I should like to add the following : my brother, H. 

 M. Stanford, saw a male at Aldringham on May 4th, 1917, 

 and a female on May 6th. We observed a male at the 

 same place on May 5th, 1919. 



This bird passes through in autumn in some numbers, 

 but is easily overlooked in wooded country, as it keeps 

 to the tree tops. When several are about, the call-note 

 is very striking. J. K. Stanford. 



LARGE CLUTCH OF WREN'S EGGS. 



At the beginning of Ma}^ 1919 a nest of the Wren {Troglodytes 

 t. troglodytes) near Little Dunmow, Essex, contained sixteen 

 eggs, an abnormally large number. They were left in the 

 nest and hatched out in due course. It was a hopeless task 

 to attempt to count the young, as it would have been impossible 

 to replace them without running the risk of smothering 

 some of them. I do not know how many actually survived 

 the nestling period, but a large percentage at the lowest 

 computation. After the exodus there were no addled eggs 

 left in the nest, so that probably every egg hatched, but 

 if any of the young had died during the nestling period, 

 their bodies would have been removed by the parents. 



J. H. Owen. 

 [The normal clutch of the Wren may be taken at six eggs, 

 sometimes seven, while sets of eight occasionally occur. 

 Mr. E. E. Pettitt informs me that he has taken a clutch 

 of nine, and Mr. H. Massey has found sets of ten and eleven 

 at Didsbury, and also possesses a clutch of fourteen eggs 

 from Ireland. Howard Saunders {Manual, p. 116) states 

 that sixteen young have been found in one nest. The 

 discrepancy in this species between normal and abnormally 

 large clutches is very remarkable and should be investigated. 



— F. C. R. JOURDAIN.] 



SOME NOTES ON THE WRYNECK. 



The Wryneck {Jynx t. torquilla) is more often heard than 

 seen, and the following notes of its habits, as observed in 

 East Suffolk, may be of interest. For some years I have 

 noticed that this bird will eject Tits, nest, eggs and all. 



