118 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. xiv. 



monianus) in the British Islands, it may be of interest to state 

 that my small series of Cuckoo's eggs includes a very typical 

 example with a clutch of three eggs of the Tree-Sparrow (all 

 similar), so that the "odd"egg (if any, and the clutch consisted 

 of four only) must have been abstracted by the Cuckoo 

 when she inserted her own in the nest, though occasionally 

 there is no " odd " egg in a clutch —even if of six — either of 

 Tree- or of the House-Sparrow (P. d. domcsticns). 



The set was taken from a hole in a pollard oak about six 

 feet from the ground on June iqth, 1911, at Banham, Norfolk, 

 by the same Mr. L. W. Leader to whom reference has been 

 made. In connection with the incident, Mr. Leader writes, 

 under date March 2gth, 1917 : " I had taken several lots 

 of Tree-Sparrow's from the pollards, but never before or 

 since with Cuckoo." 



Considering the lapse of time between the laying of this 

 Cuckoo's egg and of that exhibited at the meeting of the 

 B.O.C. on June 9th last, it is hardly likely that the two eggs 

 would be from the same bird, though possibly that collected 

 on May 30th, 1918, might well be from a descendant of the 

 layer of the first egg, whose proclivities for victimizing the 

 Tree-Sparrow have surely been transmitted to her offspring, 

 the latter very naturally returning for the breeding-season 

 to the district where, possibly by similar foster-parents, born 

 and reared. J. M. Gcwdall. 



[In Mr. H. Massey's collection are two sets of Cuckoo with 

 Tree- Sparrow's. One, from the Field collection, was exhibited 

 at the British Ornithologists' Club in 1906 ((/. antca, p. 96) ; 

 the other was taken in Pomerania in 1904, and was obtained 

 from Mr. Ramberg.— F.C.R.J. j 



SHOVELERS IN SURREY IN SUMMER. 

 While out with some members of the London Natural History 

 Society on July 25th, 1920, I observed several Shovelers 

 [Spatula clypcata) on one of the lakes on Puttenham Common, 

 Surrey. 



Occurrences of this species in tliis county, especially in 

 summer, ap})ear to be unusual. Bucknill says : " A rare 

 winter visitor which has only been recorded in the county 

 on a few occasions, and in the Geographical Bibliography, one 

 has to go back to 1905 to find a reference to the species. 



William E. Glegg. 



BIRDS AT NORTH WORCESTERSHIRE RESERVOIRS. 



The following observations made during the season 1919-20 

 on two large reservoirs in north Worcestershire may be 



