Ornithology of Asia Minor. 11 
S. krueperi began nesting in the lower fir-woods of Anascha 
as early as the 6th March; and eggs were laid by the first 
week of April; such birds^ however^ as had chosen their 
breeding-quarters in the higher and more exposed regions of 
the Ala dagh_, had not even finished building a fortnight 
later*. The nests were very easy to find^ and so numerous 
that a couple of days^ search on the 17th and 18th of April 
resulted in the discovery of about twentyand that without 
any great extent of ground being gone over or a single nest 
having been previously marked down. Most of these nests 
contained eggs_, about half of which were^ more or less_, incu¬ 
bated. The usual complement seems to be five_, as stated by 
Kriiper f; but others contained six; and in one instance a 
setting of seven was found. The eggs resemble those of the 
Common Nuthatch_, but are more spotted_, the number^ size^ 
and distribution of the spots being subject to considerable 
variation. The nests were usually placed very nearly or just 
behind the bark of a rotten fir-stump_, and could easily be ex¬ 
posed by breaking away the bark with the hand. They were 
not, however, built between the bark and the stem, but in a 
chamber excavated in the latter. A small round entrance- 
hole is bored ; and the height above the ground varies from 
one to a dozen feet. Occasionally deserted Woodpeckers^ 
holes are used, which, judging from their size, must originally 
have belonged to Picus medius. In no instance was the slightest 
attempt made to fill up the unnecessarily large entrance. For 
the groundwork of the nests filaments of juniper-bark were 
always used; indeed the stringy ragged covering of that tree 
is a favourite building-material with many birds of this dis¬ 
trict. If, however, there was a unanimity of opinion about 
the foundation and exterior, the greatest diversity of taste 
prevailed in the furnishing of the interior. The linings of 
four nests, taken within a radius of a hundred yards, were, 
^ It is rather singular to find this species nesting fully six weeks earlier 
than it does in the neighbourhood of Smyrna, and that, too, at a greater 
elevation. (See Kriiper, Mommsen’s ^ Griechische Jahreszeiten,’ Heft iii. 
p. 213, 1876, ^‘The laying-time begins in the middle of May.”) 
t L. c. p. 213. 
