142 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. xiii. 



LARGE CLUTCH OF EGGS OF LITTLE GREBE. 



Major C. Smeed recorded a remarkable clutch of ten eggs of 

 the Little Grebe [Podiceps r. nificoUis) from west Sussex in 

 May 1918 {Br. Birds, XII., p. 189). At the time I had never 

 heard of more than seven eggs being found in a nest, and that 

 only very rarely, but Mr. N. S. Mundj', a well-knowoi and 

 reliable observer, states in a letter to Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker, 

 that on August 30th, 1919, he found a nest of Little Grebe on 

 the rivei below Oxford with eight eggs. He did not take 

 them, and on revisiting the spot on September 8th found the 

 bird still sitting. Instances of the breeding of the Little Grebe 

 in September have already been recorded in Brit. Birds, II., 



p. 242. F. C. R. JOURDAIN. 



WOODCOCKS PERCHING ON TREES. 



On May 27th, 1919, I was drifting down the River Bure in a 

 sailing boat on a still day, and close to W'roxham Broad I saw 

 a bird perched on one of the topmost branches of a dead tree, 

 some 50 yards ahead. I thought at first it was a Turtle-Dove, 

 but bringing my glasses to bear upon it, was intensel}^ surprised 

 to see that it was a Woodcock {Scolopax rustical a). 



There was nothing to impede a distinct view of the bird, 

 and I could see the bird's plumage and markings perfectly, 

 and though it was perched with its back towards me, an 

 occasional turning of the head gave a good view of the beak 

 and eye, as the boat slowly drifted by. My friend, Major 

 Robertson was in a wherry some 300 yards behind, and I 

 rowed back immediately to call his attention to it. The bird 

 never moved, and as we again drifted slowly past, we had a 

 good look at it at not more than 30 yards distance, and 

 both were sure that it was a Woodcock. The two men in the 

 wherry also agreed with us. 



I may mention we both know the bird well, and have 

 probably shot and handled some hundreds. 



Mr. Pegg, of Wroxham, who is a keen naturalist and observer 

 of birds, assures me that he had twice seen Woodcocks 

 perched in trees and on one occasion he put the bird off, and 

 was quite sure of its identity. 



A friend of mine to whom I related this incident also told 

 me that he was one day coming home from shooting through a 

 wood in Wales with another guest, when they saw two birds 

 perched in a tree. One of them flew off, but the other 

 remained till they were within shot, and on its taking wing 

 my friend shot it, and found on picking it up that it was a 

 Woodcock. 



