VOL. XIII.] NOTES. 109 



The, second attempt caused us much interest. The hen 

 bird was noticed to be carrying a great lot of stuff into an 

 outhouse, and on investigation I found the beginnings of no 

 less than five nests, one between each pair of the roof-supports. 

 These other nests were eventually completed and lined, and 

 four eggs were laid in the middle nest. I noticed the hen bird 

 commenced to sit, and on the third day when I looked she 

 was sitting on one of the empty nests. After that day I 

 never saw her in the shed again. A. W. Marriage. 



[For other notes on multiple nest -building see Brit. Birds, 

 v., pp. 132, 166 ; VII., p. 346 ; XII., p. 68.— Eds.] 



CUCKOO'S EGGS AND NESTLINGS IN 1919. 



Cuckoos {Cuculus c. canorus) were very numerous in the 

 district round Felsted during the summer of 1919. They 

 began to lay about the middle of May and continued to do 

 so until almost the end of June. They were not heard after 

 June 28th. Twenty-one nests were found containing eggs or 

 young of Cuckoos by members of the School Scientific Society. 

 The first egg was found on May 19th in a Hedge-Sparrow's nest. 

 The last nestling kept under observation left the nest on July 

 22nd. Eighteen of the finds were in Hedge-Sparrows' nests, 

 one in that of a Greenfinch, one in a Greater Whitethroat's and 

 one in a Pied Wagtail's. Of the eight young kept under 

 observation, until the end of the nestling period, three did not 

 live to fly, i.e., 37.5 per cent, (compare Brit. Birds, Vols. VI., 

 PP- 330-3 ; VII., pp. 233-4, ; VIII., p. 118 ; IX., pp. 96-7 ; 

 X.,pp.i4i-2; XL, p. 160). At the time of writing (July 28th), 

 young Cuckoos are quite numerous in the district. 



In one case the Cuckoo's egg was practically fresh and the 

 Hedge-Sparrow's eggs within a day of hatching. I reared one 

 Cuckoo in a Spotted Flycatcher's nest to try to get photo- 

 graphs of the birds feeding it when fledged. The Flycatchers 

 proved extremely difficult subjects : one bird would not 

 perch, but fed the Cuckoo while hovering in front of it and 

 without alighting at all. The other bird sometimes perched 

 by the Cuckoo, but often alighted very gently on the Cuckoo's 

 back, and even on its head, and fed it from that position with 

 lightning rapidity. J. H. Owen. 



GREEN WOODPECKER IN THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 



As some interest attaches to the date on which the Green 

 Woodpecker {Piciis viridis pluvius) first began to breed in the 

 Isle of Wight, as recorded by your correspondents (cf. Brit. 

 Birds, XII., pp. 161, 210 and 237), perhaps it would be 



