Birds. 



8099 



few eggs as four in any nest in which the full complement were laid ; they generally 

 range from five to seven, in fact I know of several nests at the present time which con- 

 tain either five, six or seven young birds. Perhaps the following notes may not be 

 uninteresting. On the 10th of May, whilst staying in the neighbourhood of Wey- 

 mouth, I obtained two nests of the chough, taken from a high cliff called " Whitenose." 

 One nest contained five eggs, the other four ; they were all nearly ready to hatch. 

 On the 10th of June I had the good fortune to meet with a nest of the stone curlew, 

 an extremely rare bird in this neighbourhood: it contained two eggs partly incubated. 

 The eggs were laid in a slight hollow made by the bird on a bare fallow field, and the 

 nest had no lining whatever. In the spring of 1861 a robin built its nest under the 

 thatched eaves of the garden summer-house ; this year a pied wagtail repaired the 

 nest and deposited five eggs therein, which I took to add to my collection. Nothing 

 daunted the bird again laid four others in the same nest: these I intended to have 

 left, but unfortunately they were destroyed, probably by a mouse. — Henry Reaks ; 

 Thraxton, near Andover, June 24, 1862. 



The Nightingale's Nest. — Dear Sir : Allow me to make a few remarks upon a com- 

 munication from the Rev. A. C. Smith (Zool. 8027), with regard to the nidificatiou of 

 the nightingale. It is the custom to laud our great poet to the sides, and he is per- 

 haps deserving of it all ; he may have been an ornithologist for anything we know to 

 the contrary, but it is a stretch of ingenuity to quote his poetry as evidence that he 

 knew that some blundering builder of a nightingale had so misplaced its nest. There 

 is some difference, too, betweeen sitting against or upon a thoru. Living in the North 

 of England during my chief birdnesting days, I have had but few opportunities of 

 examining nests of the nightingale, but I do not at all doubt the correctness of the 

 instances of ornithological stupidity which Mr. Smith has mentioned, and if he will 

 again do me the favour to refer to the ' Eggs of British Birds,' he will there find that 

 I have mentioned two similar instances with regard to the hedgesparrow. These can 

 only be accounted for by supposing either that the eggs were ready before the nest, or 

 that the birds were simpletons. I have seen many such unfinished nests. As a proof 

 that birds are not always gifted with much intelligence I quote the last anecdote which 

 I have heard, although I could give you many. Mr. John Hancock tells me that a 

 friend of his found the nest of a wood-owl by observing a broken egg at the base of 

 the tree in which it was placed, and ascertained upon examination that the bird was 

 daily dropping one through a hole in the nest. I have this summer been surprised at 

 the number of perfect eggs which I have found dropped upon my lawn, chiefly those 

 of the starling. This opportunity leads me to send you a memorandum which was 

 made last year, and thrown aside because refused a place in that learned publication 

 by the editor of the ' Ibis.' Perhaps your courtesy will afford it a place in the ' Zool- 

 ogist.' — Yours very truly, W. C. Hewitson. 



Note on the Nightingale. — One morning a nightingale flew against my window 

 and fell to the ground stunned, and for a long time lay gasping as if in death. I 

 feared that its life was passing rapidly away, and felt much grieved when I thought 

 that I should hear its sweet song no more. I took it in my hand, but its legs were 

 paralyzed and the feet had lost their tension. After a long and doubtful struggle for 

 life the use of its legs returned to it; it grasped my finger, looked up into my face 

 with its large and beautiful eyes, seemed as if just awakening from a dream, and sung 

 a few soft sweet notes : they were low and plaintive, and reminded me of the notes 

 which sometimes escape from an instrument when the hands have ceased to play. It 



