NOTES AND QUERIES. 349 



two broods in Martins' nests, one of which has flown ; the others are now 

 being fed by the old ones, as any one may see who will watch for a few 

 minutes. I mentioned the occurrence as I never heard of such a thing 

 before."— F. Bond (5, Fairfield Avenue, Staines). 



Plover's Nest with Five Eggs.— On reading Mr. Whitaker's note 

 (p. 267), it reminded me of a Plover's egg which I took near here some 

 sixteen or eighteen years ago. It was in a nest containing four other eggs 

 of the ordinary Plover type, except perhaps that the ground colour of these 

 eggs was somewhat lighter than usual, which made the smaller and darker 

 egg look more conspicuous, for neither in form, markings, size, nor colour 

 did it resemble any of them, being more ovate, having a brown ground 

 colour with most of the darker markings collected about the smaller end, 

 and the egg itself certainly not larger than that of a Song Thrush. An 

 old collector, to whom I once showed it, said if he had not known its 

 origin he would possibly have referred it to a variety of the Black Tern. 

 I cannot, of course, affirm that all five eggs were laid by one and the same 

 bird, but, as the Black Tern is sparsely distributed here as an autumnal 

 visitor, I may positively say it is not referable to that species ; and I see 

 no reason why it should not be a small, abnormally-marked egg of the 

 Plover, Vanellus cristatiis, for we are well aware that sometimes where an 

 unusual number of eggs are laid there is a marked diff^erence in the size 

 of what we suppose to be the last of the clutch, although in such cases the 

 smaller egg has generally a family resemblance— at least, in colour— to its 

 fellows.— G. B. CoHBiN (Ringwood, Hants) 



[Would it not rather be the Jirst of the clutch ? The first eggs of 

 pullets are usually smaller than those laid subsequently.— Ed.] 



Fork-tailed Petrel breeding on Islands off Co. Kerry.— I announced 

 last year in ' Tlie Zoologist ' (p. 367) that an egg of this species had been 

 sent to me from the Blasquet Islands. I am happy to say that a bird with 

 its egg has, at my request, been forwarded this summer from the same spot 

 to the Science and Art Museum, Dublin, and I am informed by my friend 

 Mr. Barrington that the specimen is Procellaria Leacldi. He has more- 

 over received this summer another egg of this species from the same 

 island. It measures 1-31 by 97 in. I have also recently received an egg, 

 among others of the Storm Petrel, from the Great Skellig, which measures 

 1-21 by -93 in. Though these dimensions are unusually small for egas of 

 the Fork-tailed Petrel, I have never known so large a size to be attained 

 by eggs of the Storm Petrel, of which I have examined hundreds, and I 

 should like to know if any reader of ' The Zoologist ' can give an instance 

 of a Storm Petrel's egg of this size. I have three eggs of the Storm 

 Petrel which measure respectively 1-2 by -84 in., M9 by -88 in., 

 1-13 by -9 in. Mr. Seebohm gives as the greatest length 1-2 in., and the 



