76 Mr. H. ISlohle—Forhj-four 
miles away. On April 24tli and 25tli we took several eggs. 
The very first Magpie's nest which I saw contained seven 
Cuckooes eggs and three of the rightful owner : they were 
in all stages of incubation, from fresh to nearly hatching. 
Other nests held three Cuckooes and five Magpie's eggs, two 
and five, four and three, one and one, &c. When the nests 
M'ere in the open cork-trees they were nearly sure to contain 
Cuckoos^ eggs ; when they were placed in thick bushes, very 
rarely. The natives say that the reason of this is that the 
Cuckoo prefers an open tree, in order that she may make 
off on the return of the owner ; and certainlv, whenever we 
saw a fight (which was pretty often) the Magpie had much 
the best of it. I expect that the true explanation is that 
the nests in trees are much more accessible. The only e^g 
which we took from a nest other than that of a Magpie was 
in that of a Raven built at the top of a very large pine-tree ; 
the nest contained six Raven's eggs and one of the Cuckoo 
on May 1st, all quite fresh. This was the only egg of the 
Cuckoo found in that particular district; and as five boys 
living close by were all on the look-out, it is unlikely that 
there were many others. Curiously enough, Messrs. Selous 
and Musters found young Ravens and a Cuckoo in the same 
nest in 1900. 
StRIX FLAMMEA. 
Fairly common ; nesting in holes in trees, and once found 
in a Moorish tower. April 26th, six fresh eggs in an old 
cork-tree ; May 7th, four young just hatched. 
Scops giu. 
Not conspicuous ; few seen, but more heard. The Scops is 
much more nocturnal than the Little Owl, and I never saw 
one flying in daylight unless disturbed ; moreover, it breeds 
later. It was not till May 20th that an egg was found, on 
which the female was sitting ; on May 25th and May 27th we 
obtained two and three which were fresh; in each case the 
female was on them. My man caught another incubating a 
single egg, and placed her in a cage, where she laid an egg each 
day until seven had been deposited, when she was liberated. 
