228 
NATURE NOTES 
in a disused letter box, standing on a post close to a public road. The nest is a 
model of snugness and warmth, constructed of moss and lined w'ith rabbits’ down, 
which must have been brought from a wood half a mile away. The slit is barely 
half an inch wide, through which the birds come and go. For more security I 
have moved the post and box into the garden close by, and shall be interested 
to see if it is again inhabited next year. 
Folkestone, October 7, 1901. A. L. HusSEY. 
Plovers and Curlews. — The writer of the note under this heading in the 
October number of Nature Notes says, “The plover is not given to forsaking 
her nest, but will lay like any barndoor fowl.” I presume the latter part of the 
sentence is not to be taken literally, for it is a well-established fact that plovers 
( Vanelius vulgaris) rarely, if ever, lay more than four eggs at one nesting. I have 
always found plovers’ nests to be deserted, on revisiting them a few days after 
having removed either one or two eggs and have never found what is known as 
a “ forsaken egg ” in any plover’s nest from which I had previously taken eggs. 
On the other hand, robins will often lay the remainder of their eggs, after one or 
two eggs have been removed and the nest left empty, and I once found one sitting 
on two eggs in a hole, out of which the nest had been taken and thrown down 
close by. Having removed all the eggs from a mistle-thrush’s nest, viz., two, 1 
went, three weeks afterwards, to see whether the birds had forsaken, but was 
rather surprised to find two young ones in the nest. 
Five or six years ago large flocks of plovers were to be seen in this neighbour- 
hood during the autumn, but there are not so many now. .Some of the readers 
of Nature No i es may hint that if there are many persons like the writer in this 
district, the diminished number of plovers is easily accounted for. In reply, I 
may say, the above notes are taken from the diary of my younger days, before I 
became a reader of Nature Notes. ^ 
Leek, Staffs, November 7. Robert Hall. 
Robius’ Eggs — White variety. — During the last few years I have 
examined a large number of robins’ nests, and without exception I have observed 
that one egg and occasionally two out of the clutch have a much lighter appear- 
ance than the others, which is due to their being more free from spots than the 
remainder of the clutch. The explanation is, I think, that the lighter coloured 
egg is laid last and that the colouring matter has got used up. I have several 
times found whole clutches of eggs of a pure white colour. It is possible that 
robins have not always made their nests in holes and that at one time the coloura- 
tion was protective, but now that in most cases the eggs cannot be seen without 
some obstacle being removed, they are gradually losing their colour. 
The wren’s ^^Troglodytes parvulus) nest being dark inside, their eggs are less 
spotted than the willow wren's {Pliylloscopus trochilus) whose eggs can often be 
seen as they lie in the nest. The kingfisher, sandmaitin, and other birds whose 
nests are quite dark have pure white eggs. 
Leek, Stajffs, November 7. Robert Hall. 
Robins (pages 73 and 174). — As I live in a favourite haunt of these birds, 
and have many opportunities all the year round of observing their habits I was 
greatly interested in the notes kindly contributed by your correspondents on the 
pages quoted above. Since reading the notes I have kept a sharp look-out for a 
robin V. robin fight, and this morning (October 24) was rewarded for my trouble. 
I saw a robin chasing another robin until, I presume, the weaker one could not 
escape its pugnacious aggressor by flight, so alighted upon the ground to better 
defend itself, and there a furious battle ensued for a few minutes, between the 
two. I went forward when I saw one had got much the worst of the battle, 
whereupon the conqueror took to its wings and flew away apparently not much 
the worse for the fray, but not so the vanquished ; it lay upon the ground with 
outstretched wings, drooping head and gaping mandibles. I picked the poor sad 
looking little bird up and it expired soon alteiwards, killed in a robin v. robin 
fight. Walter Field. 
Swallows and Martins. — The main body of the swallows and martins in 
this neighbourhood seem to have taken their departure unusually early. By 
