( 235 ) 



NOTES AND QUEKIES. 



AVES. 



On the laterbreeding of the Song-Thrush and Blackbird in 

 Middlesex. — I think that most naturalists will hesitate to accept the 

 conclusions which Mr. Adamson seenis to me too readily to draw from 

 what he has seen with regard to these two species in Middlesex [ante, 

 p. 194). In the first place, with regard to the Thrush's nest found on 

 March 30th containing three eggs resembling those of the Eedwing ; 

 I would suggest that the probable explanation is that a hen Blackbird 

 had laid her eggs in a Thrush's nest. It is not an uncommon thing 

 for a wild bird to appropriate the nest belonging to another species, 

 but I think that naturalists will expect much clearer proof than Mr. 

 Adamson furnishes before they can agree with his conclusion that in 

 certain districts Blackbirds and Thrushes freely interbreed. Then as 

 to Mr. Adamson's assertion that he has always found that the male 

 bird has the influence over the external appearance of the shell of the 

 egg — may I ask him for a clear proof of this assertion '? Judging 

 from the fact that domestic hens of a breed which lay pure white 

 eggs when mated with cocks of a brown egg-laying breed still con- 

 tinue to lay pure white eggs, and that white egg-laying ducks when 

 mated to a drake of a green egg-laying breed still continue to lay 

 white eggs, I should have supposed that a hen Thrush when mated 

 to a Blackbird cock would lay an egg precisely similar to an ordinary 

 Thrush's egg ; in other words, that the male bird would have no 

 influence over the external appearance of the shell of the egg. Mr. 

 Adamson further says : " In nine cases out of ten the eggs are un- 

 fertile, and are never incubated by the female." I would ask him 

 how he ascertains that the eggs are unfertile except by their being 

 incubated, and also, whether he believes that an egg which had not 

 been fertilised would be influenced by the male bird in the external 

 appearance of the shell? — E. W. H. Blagg (Cheadle, Staffordshire). 



Hedge-Sparrow's Nest inside a Blackbird's Nest. — When staying 

 at Aston-le- Walls, Northamptonshire, in April, I found the nest of a 

 Hedge-Sparrow built inside an old Blackbird's nest in a yew hedge. 

 Two eggs were laid, but disappeared. The Hedge- Sparrov/s, relying 



