1982 R.L. Mumme 6 Melanerpes fornicivorus Plague (12 April) 1400, walking past I find a ♂ looking out of the new hole. Clearly, this is going to be the hole. But when? [illegible] 14 April 21.3 x 15.6 - possible runt egg laid by ♀496. 13 April Molly watches here in the morning, sees only a major starling battle. See her notes 14 April Finally, action! Leslie watched here this morning and saw ♀496 in the nest for 15 minutes between 0640 and 0655, at the end of which she flew out of the nest carrying an egg! She carried the egg all of 10 feet to a horizontal, looping limb of the nest tree, where it was partially eaten! I came up at 0840, and Leslie directed me to the limb. Egg was partially eaten, but it was still possible to measure it: 21.3 mm x 15.6 -- a sure runt! Therefore since ♀496 was the only ♀ in the hole, and clearly nothing was laid the last two days (see Mollies, Ala's notes: They checked the hole after Molly's watch) we have a clear-cut case of ♀496 laying her own runt egg, then removing it before she had even left the nest! See Leslie's notes for details on eating. When I looked at the egg at 0845, A large chip had been removed from near the blunt in. A small amount of reddish-orange liquid (mixed yolk [?]+ albumen?)