THE TIME OF DAY AT WHICH BIRDS LAY EGGS. 147 



was deposited, I believe between 10 and 11 a.m. The next 

 da} r there was no addition made, and after that I discontinued 

 observing. It seems from this that the Moorhen lays every 

 alternate day, and within an hour or two of mid-day. Another 

 nest, which had three eggs at 8 a.m. on May 2Gth, 1880, had no 

 more at 12, but another was deposited between that time and 

 8 p.m. Next day none were laid up to 6 p.ra., but between 

 that time and 6 the next morning another had been laid. 

 Between 8 that evening and 6 the following morning another 

 was laid ; after that I breakfasted on the eggs ! 



I have enquired of two of our chicken-women as to the time 

 Fowls lay, and have obtained from each exactly the same reply, 

 although one was more precise than the other. According to 

 them the first egg is laid early in the morning, but varies some- 

 what according to the time of year. Each successive egg after 

 that is laid an hour or an hour and a half later than the previous 

 one until the time comes to be about 1 o'clock, then a day is 

 missed and laying in the early morning is again resumed. This 

 agrees closely with what Mr. S. H. Saxby says. Ducks seldom 

 lay but early in the morning. 



I do not know what time of clay the Kestrel lays, but it is 

 stated in Dresser and Sharp's ' Birds of Europe ' that one 

 kept in confinement only laid every alternate day; and so, 

 apparently, did one which I found with one egg on May 18th, 

 1877, as it had only three on the 23rd. 



The Barn Owl is said to deposit its eggs in pairs at intervals 

 of several days. I once saw a Missel Thrush on her nest, and 

 I believe laying, at 10 a.m. Another bird, in 1877, had one egg 

 at 7 a.m. and three on the evening of the next day, so that she 

 must have laid some time during the day. I found two Black- 

 birds' nests on April 15th, 1880, at 8 a.m. ; at 12 one had another 

 egg, but the other had not. Next day an egg was laid between 

 8 and 11.45 a.m. A nest in our garden had two eggs at 7 a.m. 

 on April 25th last, and three at 12 ; next day the egg was laid 

 by 10.15. 



The first Thrush I watched was in 1877, and she laid between 

 7 a.m. and the evening. The next one laid between 6.45 a.m. 

 and 2 o'clock ; next day the same bird was on laying at 10 a.m., 

 and the day after between 9 and 10 a.m. Another bird, in 1877, 

 laid about 11 o'clock. Another laid between 1 p.m. and 7 a.m. 



