74 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vm. 



Mr. T. A. Coward saw the birds on May 30th and confirmed 

 my identification. 



The only previous nest in Cheshire was that found near 

 Bowdon in 1913 by Mr. T. A. Coward (Vol. VII., p. 116). 

 The bird probably occurs sparingly throughout the district, 

 though we have only seen it rarely, and it is evidently not 

 at all common. The accompanying photographs showing 

 the nesting -hole and the surroundings were taken by 

 Mr. H. H. Storey. A. W. Boyd. 



UNUSUAL NESTING-SITE OF MISTLE-THRUSH. 



Taking shelter under a small shed during a storm in east 

 Devon, I was surprised to see the nest of a Mistle-Thrush 

 (Turdus V. viscivorus) placed on the angle of two beams. It 

 was composed largely of stiing and contained four eggs. 



Lewis R. W. Loyd. 



[Though the site mentioned is very unusual for this species, 

 it is not unprecedented. Mr. S. G. Cummings found a nest 

 in the gable end of a ruined cottage at Rhosneigr, Anglesey. 

 Mr. G. A. B. Dewar also reports a nest resting on a project- 

 ing beam under the eaves of a house, and in the Isle of Man 

 several instances of nests on buildings have been recorded, 

 the most remarkable being behind the letters advertising 

 a chemist's shop in front of a row of houses at Port Erin 

 {Birds of the Isle of Man, p. 3). Nests on rocks and in 

 quarries or stone walls have been frequently reported. — 

 F.C.R.J.] 



[In 1901 I found and photographed a nest built on a 

 horizontal beam, some t\\elve feet from ground, against the 

 angle of two adjacent walls inside a large barn at Ewhmst, 

 Sussex. In the following year, at the same place, I photo- 

 graphed a nest Avith four eggs, built on the top of three 

 wooden hurdles leaning against an iron fence that separated 

 two grass fields. — ^N.F.T.] 



UNUSUALLY LARGE CLUTCH OF REDBREAST'S 



EGGS. 

 It may be considered of sufficient interest to record a clutch 

 of no less than nine eggs of the Robin [Dandalus r. melophilus). 

 The nest was found in a bank in east Devon on April 24th, 

 1914, and then contained six eggs. The fact that one egg 

 was laid each day from then until April 27th inclusive, tends 

 to show that the eggs were the product of one female, unless, 

 of course, a second female started to lay some time after 

 tlie first. Howard Saunders, A\Titing of the number of eggs 

 laid by the Robin, says " occasionally as many as seven or 



