VOL. XV.] • i\()Tl":S. 167 



not the finer grass lining or hair Mhich is added by the female, 

 though the male has a strange propensity to pile willow-down 

 about the edges. These " cock's " nests can be built in from one 

 to one-and-a-half days. Therefore, with a female present 

 the two days for a complete nest as given by Mr. Musselwhite 

 tallies with my experience. In the case of Wrens and their 

 " cock " nests an egg may be laid before the lining by the 

 female is complete, but this was not likely to happen with 

 Mr. Musselwhite's female which had just been incubating 

 her full clutch. J. P. Burkitt. 



[Mr. Burkitt 's note, though interesting, appears to us to 

 miss the point raised by Mr. Musselwhite's record, which is 

 not that a Whitethroat can build a nest in a hurry, but that 

 a female should be in condition to lay again so quickly after 

 incubating a clutch for nearly the full period. — Eds.] 



EGG-LAYING HABITS OF CUCKOO. 



Whilst taking a walk across a common near Knighton on 

 the afternoon of May 22nd, 192 1, in company with jMr. Edgar 

 Chance and Mr. Herbert Massey, I was startled by hearing 

 some birds fly quickly past me and, turning round, observed 

 a Cuckoo {Cuculns c. canoriis) chased by five Meadow-Pipits 

 just about to alight on the ground not twenty 3^ards frcm me. 



I immediately looked at my watch and it was 4.30 p.m., 

 and having learned along with Mr. Chance in 1920 that a 

 Cuckoo laid in the afternoon regularly, I thought it quite 

 probable that this one might do so. I had momentarily lost 

 sight of my friends but soon caught sight of Mr. Chance and 

 lieckoned him to me ; before he reached me the Cuckoo 

 had again flown down to the ground close to where I saw it 

 alight before. It was soon away again, flying into a larch 

 tree some 200 yards away on the edge of the common, and 

 we searched for a nest ; not finding one we walked a little 

 distance away and, while doing so we saw the Cuckoo leave 

 the larch tree and glide right over us, alighting on the ground 

 this time by i\\e side of a Meadow-Pipiit's nest, and hopping 

 on to it, remained about ten seconds, then flying clear away. 

 We ran to the site and found the nest contained one Cuckoo's 

 egg quite warm and one egg of the Meadow-Pipit. We 

 watched from about 60 3/ards' distance. 



This is now the fifth Cuckoo I have personally known to 

 lay in the afternoon, so it may reasonably be assumed that 

 this is the most favoured time of dav for the Cuckoo to lav. 



O. R. Owen. 



