VOL. xm.] NOTES. 137 



NUMBER OF EGGS LAID BY MARSH-WARBLER. 



In Saunders's Manual (2nd edition, p. 82) the number of eggs 

 in the clutch of the Marsh-Warbler {Acrocephalus palustris) 

 is given as five to seven, and similar statements are also made 

 in Seebohm's History of British Birds, I., p. 378, and Sharpe's 

 Handbook of the Birds of Great Britain, I., p. 235. I am aware 

 that continental dealers occasionally send over clutches of 

 six eggs from the Continent, but from a somewhat extensive 

 acquaintance with this species in the west of England, 

 have come to the conclusion that in England, at any rate, 

 this bird has a tendency to lay less rather than more than 

 five eggs in the clutch. Dozens of nests which I have inspected 

 contained only four eggs, while I have very often found the 

 bird incubating clutches of three, and occasionally have met 

 with two only. However, this year (1919) for the first time 

 in fifteen years' experience, I found a nest with six eggs, in 

 Gloucestershire, and should be interested to learn whether any 

 of your readers has had a similar experience. 



Alfred Thomas. 



[It is difficult to guess upon what authority the statements 

 of Seebohm and Saunders mentioned above were made. 

 The normal clutch of the Marsh-Warbler is undoubtedly 

 four to five eggs, and clutches of six are exceptional on the 

 Continent, while we are not aware of any previously recorded 

 instance in England. Naumann says the eggs are generally 

 four or five, more rarely six in number, while Rey says that 

 the clutch consists of five eggs, sometimes four only, while 

 he never met with six. R. B. Sharpe and A. G. Butler have 

 copied the statements of Seebohm and Saunders into their 

 works, but in Howard's British Warblers and the British 

 Bird Book the information is more correct. 



F. C. R. JOURDAIN.] 



ARE CUCKOOS EVER REARED BY GREENFINCHES ? 

 Mr. J. H. Owen in his notes {anlea, p. 109), on " Cuckoo's 

 Eggs and Nestlings in 1919," mentions the finding of a 

 Cuckoo's egg in a Greenfinch's nest, but he does not refer to 

 the subsequent history of this egg. In volume VI., p. 331, 

 Mr. Owen records that a young Cuckoo left the nest of a 

 Bullfinch " alive " and apparently well. There does not seem, 

 however, to be any other information, at anj^ rate, I have been 

 unable to find any, about the hatching of Cuckoo's eggs and the 

 rearing of the young birds by other than purely insectivorous 

 species. Possibly the occurrence of Cuckoo's eggs in the nests 



