NOTES. 171 



wing from the middle joint outwards, but a few birds were 

 afflicted with a curious disease which destroyed the feet. 



H. W. Robinson. 



GREAT CRESTED GREBE, DOUBLE-BROODED. 



As there has been some controversy on the subject of the 

 Great Crested Grebe (Podicipes cristatus) being double-brooded 

 (c/. Vol. II., pp. 171, 242), I may here give the results of my 

 observations on two pairs of this species at one of their 

 Warwickshire breeding haunts. First, however, I would like to 

 explain that by double-brooded I mean the laying of a second 

 clutch of eggs after the first brood has been reared. 



On May 9th I discovered a nest containing one egg ; on 

 May 12th it contained four eggs ; and on May 30th one of 

 these had been taken, while on the same date I saw the 

 second pair, whose nest I had been unable to find, accompanied 

 by two well-grown young ; the eggs in the first nest hatched 

 about June 12th. On June 24th I saw the female of the 

 second pair sitting on a second nest ; on July 17th one of 

 these eggs had hatched, while I saw the male of the first 

 pair carrying materials to a half-constructed nest on which 

 sat the female ; this latter nest unfortunately vanished, and 

 a third was not constructed. 



These observations show beyond doubt that the Great 

 Crested Grebe will sometimes in any case rear two broods in 

 one year. 



A. G. Leigh. 



The Use of Domed Nests. — In the August number of 

 the " Irish Naturalist " Mr. C. B. Moffat has an interesting 

 paper (pp. 161-166) on the use of domed nests. Taking the 

 eight Irish birds which build nests of this type, he proceeds to 

 show that only one, the Magpie, can be said to need protection 

 on account of the conspicuous colouring of the incubating 

 female, and suggests as an alternative theory that the real 

 object of the roof in six out of the eight cases, at any rate, 

 is to prevent the young from falling out of the nest, especially 

 at the period when they are nearly ready to fly. In con- 

 firmation of this he points out that the builders of the domed 

 nests lay larger clutches than their congeners, which are con- 

 tent with the open type. Of course the same object is attained 

 by those birds which breed in holes, or nest on the ground, 

 and in the case of the Goldcrest by attaching the nest at 

 several points to the branch above. The paper is an interesting 



