NOTES. 199 



colony of Terns, would lay the normal number, while the young 

 and very old birds would be responsible for the short clutches. 



During my visit to the Faroes in 1905 I visited the small 

 island of Hoivig Holm, on which is, I believe, one of the largest 

 colonies of Arctic Terns known, roughly computed at 1000 

 pairs. Only a very few of the birds had commenced laying ; 

 a few nests contained three eggs, all of which proved incubated 

 on blowing, while all the sets of two taken were fresh, with one 

 exception. This small series, when compared with the eggs 

 of the Common Tern (which does not occur in these islands), 

 proved on the average smaller, and a recent acquisition of 

 an authenticated series from Scandinavia confirms my opinion 

 that they are not only smaller, but richer and more boldly 

 marked. 



Regarding the Common and Lesser Tern, with which my 

 experience has been considerable, I must confirm Mr. Gilroy's 

 notes, namely, that three is the normal clutch in each case. 



My time with the Sandwich Tern has been limited to a 

 solitary visit in 1906 to one of the largest, but least known, 

 colonies, which at the time consisted of 400 nests. I only 

 saw three nests with three eggs, and some birds were sitting on 

 one egg only. It is quite easy to see in this colony which 

 birds have commenced to incubate by the complete ring of 

 excreta which encircles the nest. I have not noticed this 

 with the Common, Arctic and Lesser Tern. In this colony 

 this year, as the watcher informs me, there were 385 nests 

 and only three contained three eggs. The colony mentioned 

 by Mr. Gilroy as having 99 per cent, of nests with three eggs 

 must indeed be an exceedingly prolific one. In Holstein a 

 large percentage of Sandwich Terns apparently lay three eggs. 

 I have in my series ten sets from there, and, judging from the 

 evenness of each clutch, they are perfectly genuine. 



Percy F. Bun yard. 



[Although it is obvious that in certain orders (such as the 

 Limicolse and Tubinares) the number of eggs cannot be 

 affected by the food supply, it is a remarkable fact that those 

 naturalists who have had the best opportunities for observing 

 are unanimous in asserting that the Raptores of N. Scandinavia 

 have exceptionally large clutches in years when the food 

 supply is unusually plentiful. I need only refer to the works 

 of Professor Collett and Mr. H. J. Pearson for corroboration of 

 this statement. In our own country a parallel instance is that 

 of the Short-eared Owl, which, during the vole-plague of 

 1890-92 frequently laid clutches of ten, and occasionally as 



