NOTES AND QUERIES. 373 



during the many years that I have searched for nests of the Reed Warbler, 

 I have only found three (including the nest now referred to) with five eggs. 

 Four has always been considered a full clutch, and I have constantly 

 known of two and three eggs only laid and hatched. Another is, that the 

 Cuckoo will always prefer to deposit her eggs in the nests of the same 

 species, if she can find them, and under precisely similar conditions. In 

 this hedge of willows I found this year at least twenty nests of the Reed 

 Warbler, some quite low down, within two feet of the water in the ditch, 

 and others quite high up. The one I took on July 6th was over twenty 

 feet from the ground, as I proved by measurement. Each nest that had a 

 Cuckoo's egg was high up and had to be climbed for. Again, these four 

 eggs heing found within a distance of half a mile shows that the Cuckoo 

 does not wander far if the nests of the species she prefers are tolerably 

 plentiful. The number of eggs that a Cuckoo lays in a season has often 

 been questioned. My observations prove that this bird laid at least four 

 eggs this year. From the regularity with which the last three were laid, 

 I think we may conclude that another egg would be deposited during the 

 interval between the 6th and 23rd of June, which may have been placed in 

 adjacent grounds to which I had not access. I did not see any trace of a 

 young Cuckoo, in spite of a thorough search. My collection furnishes 

 evidence of an analogous case. A correspondent of mine, in Saxony, sent 

 me a series of four Cuckoo's eggs, all bearing such a strong resemblance to 

 each other that probably every oologist who sees them would acknowledge 

 that they were laid by the same bird. They were found as follows : — 



June 5th, in nest of Reed Warbler, with 2 eggs. 

 „ 14th, „ ditto, „ 3 „ 



„ 22nd, „ Marsh Warbler, „ 4 „ 



July 9th, „ Yellow Bunting, „ 4 „ 



Here, again, there is a lapse of over a fortnight during which no Cuckoo's 

 egg was found, and in this instance the lapse occurs between the third and 

 fourth eggs, but in the one I now record between the first and second. 

 As I have no evidence to prove that a thorough search was made for this 

 presumably missing egg, but, on the other hand, should infer that no such 

 search was made, I am of opinion that these two cases are worthy of record, 

 as going some way to prove that the usual number of eggs laid by a 

 Cuckoo is five. Should this Cuckoo return to the same locality next 

 summer, I hope to continue my observations; and I trust that any of your 

 correspondents who may have had similar experience will communicate 

 it to 'The Zoologist.' — Edward Bidwell (Richmond). 



Peculiar Habit of the Starling. — Adverting to Mr. Cambridge's note 

 on this matter (p. 334), I may observe that, for years past, I have 

 encouraged the breeding of the Starling in the' ivy above my dining-room 



