14 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. viii. 



MUD-DAUBED EGGS OF JACKDAW. 



An article and several notes regarding mud-daubed eggs 

 of the Jackdaw (Coloeus m. spermologus) appeared in 

 Volume IV., pp. 176, 214, 250. I have annually, at the end 

 of April, visited the Craig-y-rhiw rocks, near Oswestry, for 

 the purpose of investigating the Jackdaws' nests. ]Most 

 of the nests are in the rocks or rabbit-holes, and six in holes 

 in trees. Previous to reading the above-mentioned notes 

 in British Birds, I had not paid much attention to the 

 daubing, and considered it to be accidental. In 1910 the 

 eggs in one of the trees were daubed and, as far as I remember, 

 it was the only set thoroughly daubed. In 1911 the eggs in 

 this hole were again daubed, but many other nests had eggs 

 more or less daubed, and I came to the conclusion that it m as 

 accidentally done, and ^^'as due to the wetness of the ploughed 

 land. In 1912 this nest was the only one I could find which 

 contained daubed eggs out of more than twenty sets examined. 

 It was a very dry April. In 1913, the birds had not laid in 

 this particular nest by the end of April, and the few eggs in 

 other nests were perfectly clean. This year (1914) I visited 

 the nests on April 26th and found nearly all of them ^^ith 

 five eggs each, and all the eggs were clean except those in 

 that one nest and they were very thickly daubed, the mud 

 on one egg of the clutch being still wet. AU the eggs were 

 fresh. This I think tends to prove that in some cases the 

 daubing is not accidental, as the eggs found each year in 

 this particular nest were probably all laid by the same bird. 

 This nest is in a hollow trunk and the entrance is down a 

 rotten limb, and the eggs are invisible from the entrance. 

 There were two entrances near together, but in 1912 the 

 bird stopped the lo\Aer one \\ith sticks, which I had to remove 

 before I could reach the eggs. J. H. Owen. 



[It is of interest to note that the habit of egg daubing is 

 not confined to British Jackdaws, but has also been observed 

 on the Continent. See an article by F. Menzel in the 

 Ornithologische Jahrbuch, 1909, p. 105. — F.C.R.J.] 



SPARROW EJECTING EGGS FROM NEST OF 

 SONG-THRUSH. 



For the last thi'ee 3^ears a Song-Thrush (Turclus ph. clarkci) 

 has built a nest and laid eggs some twenty-five feet from 

 the ground, on the toj) of a ventilator just under the eaves 

 of a house at OsA\estry. Each year the eggs have been 

 turned out, and I have put the mischief down to rats. 



