372 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



only nests we found were a few of those of the Black-headed 

 Gull, with eggs. The Common Terns, though assembled on the 

 islands, had not begun to lay. When passing a reedy bay we 

 disturbed a male Shoveller, which evidently had a mate hatching 

 somewhere near; he showed much disinclination to leave the 

 locality, never flying more than a couple of hundred yards away 

 from where he was first put up. Although known to breed in 

 other parts of Ireland, this is the first occasion on which I have 

 met with the Shoveller in summer in this district. 



Corn Crakes arrived in unusually large numbers this summer, 

 and on trying to estimate the number of males heard calling 

 in the adjacent fields I came to the conclusion that there were 

 fully three times the average number. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



BIRDS. 



Cuckoo's Eggs. — Everything connected with the mystery of the 

 Cuckoo's egg is of such great interest to oologists that some observations 

 of mine, made this summer, may be thought worthy of record. Near my 

 residence there is a long meadow, bounded by a wide ditch, at the edge of 

 which willow-bushes grow in profusion. On June 6th, whilst searching 

 in these willows for nests of the Reed Warbler, I found one containing five 

 eggs of that bird and one of the Cuckoo, all six slightly incubated. Visiting 

 the locality again on June SiSrd, I found another Reed Warbler's nest, with 

 one egg and a Cuckoo's egg, both quite fresh. The same day I found a 

 Reed Warbler's nest partly built. On June 28th I found an egg of the 

 Cuckoo in this last-mentioned nest, but no eggs of the Reed Warbler. 

 The date of my next visit was July Oth, when two eggs of the Reed 

 Warbler, slightly iucubated, were in this nest. On the same day I found 

 another nest of this species, with two eggs and a CucUoo's egg, all three 

 fleshly laid. These four eggs of the Cuckoo were undoubtedly laid by the 

 same bird, for they are all marked with a reddish brown zone round the 

 larger end, and bear such a strong resemblance to each other that it is only 

 by my marks that I am able to distinguish them. The only perceptible 

 difference is in the last found, which is slightly smaller than the other 

 three, though exactly resembling them in colour and markings. I think 

 that several deductions may safely be drawn from these facts. The first is 

 that the Cuckoo does not always turn out an egg from the nest when she 

 deposits her own. The reason that I have come to this conclusion is, that 



