On May 21st I noticed one of the birds again at the nesting-hole, which rather surprised me; so I allowed her what I thought a sufficient time to deposit another clutch, which I intended to take, in order to see how many I could induce her to lay. On June 5th, at 6 a.m., I again visited the nest. The same lad mounted the ladder, and took five eggs, slightly incubated. The birds did not forsake the hole, for on June 20th one of them flew out on my approach; so I again placed the ladder against the tree on June 28th, at 4.30 a.m. The same small lad again bared his shoulders (for length), and placed his arm in the hole; but this time he was beaten. He could not reach the bottom of the hole. He tried again and again, but the birds had bored deeper since the last visit. I sent the boy home for the mallet and chisel, and a big lad of eighteen years. The wood was very tough, taking me over an hour to enlarge the hole sufficiently. The nest contained six eggs; three of them were much incubated, but the other three were quite fresh and splendidly transparent, the yolks being plainly visible.
The Woodpeckers still stuck to the hole, and on July 4th both birds were about the trees. I saw and heard both birds again on July 10th; so, after allowing them the usual interval of about three weeks, I again borrowed the ladder from the local builder, and assisted in carrying it to the wood at 7 a.m. on Friday, July 18th. As the ladder touched just beneath the hole the bird flew out, and the big lad Parker quickly brought six eggs to the bottom of the ladder, one at a time. I noticed that incubation had commenced. The female seemed greatly agitated, and flew into the tree calling loudly; she thereby saved her eggs. The lad, by my wish, replaced each one, and we left the vicinity of the nest quickly, leaving her to bring forth her brood. This made a total of twenty-four eggs deposited by the same female in a last year's hole, eighteen of which are in my collection; and I am sure I wish her every success with her fourth attempt.—Stanley Lewis (Wells, Somerset).
Breeding of the Bittern in Herts in 1849.—In the fourth edition of 'Yarrell' (vol. iv. p. 208) nests of the Bittern (Botaurus stellaris) are recorded from near Tring, in Herts, and near Drayton Beauchamp, in Bucks. In a footnote the editor suggests that these records relate to the same occurrence. This appears to be the case, for, from information kindly furnished by Miss Williams to Miss Harpur Crewe, I find that the nest with four eggs was taken in July, 1849, at the Wilstone Reservoirs, in Herts, about a couple of miles from Tring, and close to Drayton Beauchamp. The eggs were afterwards accidentally broken,
