424 THE ZOOLOGIST, 



containing nest of Great Tit and five eggs. May 2nd, 8 a.m. Eight eggs ; 

 old bird absent, and not looked at again to-day. May 3rd, 7 p.m. Found 

 old one sitting without addition to clutch. May 13th, 1 p.m. Eight eggs 

 still in nest. May 14th, 6 p.m. Six young hatched ; two eggs remain. 

 May 30th. Between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. the old birds visit the nest with food, 

 sixty-four times within the hour ; when leaving nest they invariably left for 

 further supplies in an opposite direction. Feeding at this rate is not 

 carried on throughout the day ; they may sometimes be absent for a con- 

 siderable time. Feeding commences about 4 a.m., and finishes about 7 p.m. 

 June 2nd. The brood complete of eight young left their nest. In all 

 probability the old one would commence incubation on May 2nd, with a 

 result of twelve days, and an addition of, say, nineteen days for the young 

 to remain within the nest.— J. Steele-Elliott (Gent, Worcestershire). 



Nesting of the Common Sparrow | Passer domesticusi. — Yarrell 

 mentions the first batch of eggs laid usually consists of five to six ; Morris 

 practically quotes the same words ; Macgillivray gives the laying four to six ; 

 Saunders states five to six ; Seebohm goes one better, and says five to 

 seven. My personal experience is that a clutch of six is most unusual, and 

 does not happen in even one per cent, of nests containing the full laying. 

 Nests with a clutch of four are about as numerous as those with five, and a 

 remarkable quantity have a full complement of only three, at a rough esti- 

 mate, say, fifteen per cent. There are many other remarks with which, 

 after considerable experience, one does not care to agree, as, for instance, 

 Seebohm adds it is probable that with those birds that build domed nests 

 in branches of trees the habit is hereditary. He also adds that the Sparrow 

 often sits upon the first egg as soon as laid ; my experience being that, if 

 the nest is placed in a hole, then the female will roost at the side of the 

 nest, but in no way adding to their incubation until (taking, for instance, 

 the laying of a clutch of five; the evening following the laying of the fourth 

 egg, when incubation starts. Yarrell evidently infers that the early layings 

 of the Sparrow contain the largest clutches of eggs. This is by no means 

 invariably the rule ; most frequently the same number is laid both in the 

 second and third layings, and occasionally, as in this year, two nests con- 

 taining six followed the robbery of the first laying, when previously nothing 

 more than five could be found. Yarrell points out that the Sparrow may 

 occasionally be seen in winter carrying materials to the holes they inhabit; 

 this is evidently only for sleeping accommodation. The actual nesting 

 commences as early as the first week in March, the complete lining of 

 feathers not being added for many weeks hence, and then not until several 

 eggs have been laid. Laying usually commences with great regularity in 

 the Midlands during the second week in May. Three broods are usually 

 reared if no molestation takes place ; if the first two layings are robbed, 



