332 
THE NESTING SEASON AT SPURN. 
R. FORTUNE, F.Z.S. 
This year we have had the services of the best watcher we 
have had so far. He was a practical man, who had a great 
interest in the birds, and has furnished me with a detailed list 
of the nests observed by him, and the results obtained from 
each nest. 
He complains that the Crows are a great nuisance, numbers 
of them frequenting the district and doing a good deal of 
damage during the breeding season. 
The first Tern’s nest was observed on May igth, and con- 
tained 3 eggs ; only one nest was seen on this date. Altogether 
8 g nests of the Lesser Tern were marked by him during the * 
season ; 72 of which were in the neighbourhood of the Beacon, 
16 on the Point, and 1 on the Bents. The birds have evidently , 
changed their quarters again somewhat, as the proportions » 
were not so marked last season, far more birds nesting on the 
point. Probably a few nests would escape the watcher’s j 
observation. It may be interesting to note that 8 nests 1 
contained only 1 egg, 53 nests contained 2 eggs, and 23 nests J 
contained 3 eggs. Most of the nests marked, hatched off 
safely. 72 were known to have done so, 2 are known definitely 
to have been lost, and the fate of the other 15 are uncertain, 
probably the majority of them were failures. The general 
result is however, highly satisfactory. 
Seventy nests of the Ringed Plover were also noted. 5 
of these contained 1 egg only, 17 had 2 eggs, 14 had 3 eggs, 1 
and 34 contained the normal clutches of 4 eggs. Of course I 
in many of the smaller clutches it is quite possible that 
some of the eggs had been removed by some agency. Ring 
Plovers’ nests are more scattered than those of the Tertis, but 
the numbers are reversed, the greater being on the Point. 
There were 29 nests on the Point, 21 at the Beacon, 9 on the 
Bents and 11 on the Humber side. Of these 49 are known 
to have hatched off safely, x was lost, and the fate of the 
remaining 20 is uncertain. These numbers do not of course 4 
represent the whole of the nests, as a number would no doubt 
hatch off before the arrival of the watcher. 
: o : 
A party of naturalists recently visited the Scilly Islands, and on one 
of the lonely and uninhabited islands, found the humerus of a large bird, 
which seemed to be a puzzle. It was carefully compared with a large 
collection of bird bones in a well-known Yorkshire Museum, and could not 
be matched there. Hopes ran high. It was, therefore, sent to the 
South Kensington Museum, where it was pronounced to be the humerus 
of a domestic Turkey — doubtless a Christmas relic from a transatlantic 
liner. 
Naturalist. 
