42 Yorksliire Naturalists' Union: Annual Report, 1905 



Barn Owls are scarcer in the district than formerly, but I 

 heard of one clutch of six eggs being seen. 



On the Corvidae the season had curiously diverse effects. 

 Magpies had full clutches, one of eight being observed, but Jack- 

 daws produced few eggs, small and poorly marked, four being the 

 commonest number in a nest. 



Carrion Crows seem to have been stimulated by abundance of 

 food, for two clutches of six each were found in the same district, 

 the normal clutch of five also being very common. 



Rooks showed a puzzling discrepancy of date ; young, well 

 advanced, being observed in Holderness on 4th April, whilst on 

 the same date, in Howdenshire, the eggs were almost invariably 

 fresh, or clutches as yet incomplete, and many birds had not com- 

 menced to lay. 



Peewits were late, voxy few nesting till the second week in 

 April, when the majority commenced to sit. 



Of the Turdidse, Missel Thrushes were unusually numerous 

 and prolific, many clutches of five being found, one of these as 

 early as 3rd April. 



Blackbirds and Thrushes more prolific than usual, five being 

 the usual number of eggs in the first clutches, in place of four, 

 whilst Mr. H. R. Jackson found Thrush (seven) and Blackbird (six) 

 during the season, both very unusual numbers. 



Hedge Sparrows produced many clutches of five in the 

 first nesting, instead of the usual four. 



Goldfinches and Lesser Redpolls keep about stationary, 

 being thinly distributed all over East Yorkshire. Were it not 

 for the depredations of the bird-catcher in winter, there seems no 

 reason to doubt that they would increase. 



Hawfinches appear to be increasing in Holderness. 



Chaffinchs were unusually numerous and prolific. 



Corn Buntings, like the ground-breeders generally, were very 

 late, the wet apparently being too much for them. Mr. H. R. 

 Jackson had two nests brought to him, taken in front of the 

 reaper at the end of August. 



Starlings prolific, a nest of seven is reported by Mr. C. W. 

 Mason. 



Of the migrants, the Warblers were late in coming, and late 

 in nesting, but produced full clutches, and in some cases reared 

 two broods, for on 4th July, I saw two nests of the Common 

 Whitethroat with eggs and yovmg, whilst the Garden Warbler 

 was in full song on the same date. I also saw a Lesser White- 

 throat with six eggs on 23rd May — a very unusual number here- 

 abouts. 



Swallows and Martins arrived about the usual date, and in 

 many cases produced two broods, in spite of the wet summer. 



On 19th September I saw a young Cuckoo feeding on cater- 

 pillars. 



