Lower Canada. I should, however, except the snow bunting, or snow flake (Emberìza nivàlis). This hardy little fellow is said to build in Greenland; and is found not only upon the hoary mountains of Spitzbergen, and upon the inhospitable shores of Hudson's Bay, but in the highest northern latitudes that our navigators have reached. It feeds on the ground; and, from having the long claw of the lark (Alaúda arvénsis), and not perching in trees [see VI. 486.], has frequently been mistaken for a white variety of that bird.

The immense flights of the passenger pigeons that pass over here must be seen to be credited. We are, however, all familiar with Wilson's and Audubon's descriptions of them. They seem to migrate with a south-west wind.

The martins (Hirúndo úrbica) arrive here about the middle of March; and are soon followed by another and larger species, called here the black martin. This I take to be the H. mélba. The inhabitants prepare small houses for them; and they take possession of them as soon as they arrive.

The only humming-bird here or in the States is the redthroated species (Trochilus Cólubris). They come about the end of April, and depart the latest of the summer birds. During the hot weather, they are seldom much about in the middle of the day. From the early part of June to near the end of August, they retire into the most impenetrable parts of the woods, where they breed; and are never seen, except in the morning and evening. One reason of this absence during the day appears to be, that, while the sun is shining hot upon the flowers, very little honey is secreted: and, as their food chiefly consists of honey [see I. 371., V. 473. 475. 675.], they cannot obtain it; but, when the weather is moist and cloudy, they may then be seen busily engaged in extracting their food from the flowers. I have seen as many as eight or ten humming and hovering round the blossoms of the scarlet runners. The young ones fly about the first week in August; and, from that time until the middle of September, they perch in the sticks [placed to support the stems and branches] of the above plants. Here they will remain for hours, being fed by the old birds; whose affection for them is so great, that they will not allow any bird to come near them. The male of this species of humming-bird does not assume its full plumage until the spring; the female is a beautiful bird, but greatly inferior in splendour to the male. By remaining quite still near a flower they frequent, they will come within a yard of

A friend of mine, on whose fidelity and accuracy I can depend, witnessed the following scene; which I relate in illustration of the pugnacious habits of these birds; - There is,

in the West Indies, a bird called the chicken-hawk: one of them had attempted to carry off a young humming-bird; when the parent bird flew with the rapidity of an arrow, and brought the hawk in agony to the ground, having pierced the posterior part of its body with its bill.

The last bird of passage that arrives here is the goatsucker, which appears by the middle of May. They are very numerous; and resemble the one in England, but are larger. On fine still nights, they fly very high, and make a loud humming noise with their wings as they rapidly descend. They call them in this country the mosquito hawk; a more appropriate name, as relates to the habits of the bird, than that of goatsucker. O. Clapton, Feb. 1834.

Of the Forked-tail Kite, we have a few about us: it is provincially called the "crotched-tail puddock." One flew over the garden a few days ago, mobbed by several rooks. The gardener, on seeing this bird, remarked, "What fierce things they are when they've got nests! I was along with a boy once, who got up to one; and the old one picked a hole smack through his hat, and scratched his hand properly, before he could make her go off the nest. There used to be a good many of them about here once, but there are not many of them now." The latter part of the last remark is perfectly correct. -J.C. Witham, Essex, March 20. 1834.

A Bittern was shot at Maldon, about six weeks ago. Bitterns are not unfrequently met with upon the marshes by the side of the river which runs to that town. Id.

Some of the Habits of the Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus); as shown by an Individual of this Species in partial Confinement. The individual to be spoken of is at present. in the grey or immature plumage, which, we are told, these birds retain for several years. He has the full range of a large garden, his escape being only prevented by having his wing cut; but he constantly prefers the neighbourhood of a large network cage, the residence of a pair of silver pheasants: not very congenial companions, one would suppose, for a roamer of the ocean. But such is the fondness of almost all animated beings for society of some kind or other, that, when that of their own species is out of reach, they will often attach themselves to creatures of a very foreign character. Near his gallinaceous friends our gull always sleeps, seldom straying to any considerable distance; though he seems to enjoy, at times, using his wings to the utmost of his ability; half-flying, half-running, in all directions, apparently for mere amusement. He is, however, very tame; and will, when hungry, follow any of the family about the garden, uttering a

peculiar cry, which always means that he is quite ready for a meal. Indeed, he has a most voracious appetite, and the capacity of his throat is truly astonishing: he has repeatedly swallowed, quite whole, with bill, claws, and feathers, various small birds which had been shot and thrown to him. Mice or other small quadrupeds appear equally to suit his taste; and, though he has no objection to butcher's meat, he seems rather to prefer small animals, notwithstanding the hair, feathers, &c., which sometimes give him not a little trouble to dispose of satisfactorily. The way in which he remedies this difficulty suggested itself the first time a bird was given him: I believe it was a skylark. After some ineffectual efforts to swallow it, he paused for a moment; and then, as if suddenly recollecting something, he ran off at full speed to a pan of water, shook the bird about in it until well soaked, and immediately gulped it down without farther trouble. Since that time, he invariably has recourse to the same expedient in similar cases, however distant he may be from the pan when any difficulty arises. He once, by this means, managed to swallow the head of a fowl; bill, bones, feathers, and all. He does not appear particularly to prefer fish, which we may suppose his more natural food; though he will eat it plentifully when hungry; and he is generally by no means nice in his diet, having lately eaten, with apparent pleasure, a putrid weasel, taking, however, especial care that it should not go down "tail foremost." I have some reason to believe that he casts up the bones, fur, and feathers of what he swallows, in the manner of the owls, &c.; as I have occasionally found a little bunch of very white bones, mixed with fur, near his sleeping-place. Whether or not this bird would have had any inclination to feast on his winged neighbours, had they never been given him when dead, I cannot say; but I have frequently observed him not only earnestly watching the small birds as they were hopping near him, but actually pursuing them for some distance: and, in one instance, almost successfully, for a chaffinch had nearly fallen a victim to his predatorial propensity, after he had chased it a considerable way. Altogether, he is an amusing fellow; but, as he has shown no small inclination to mischief, in plucking off the flowers, pulling up the labels, emptying the flower-pots, and scattering the mould over the walks, his fate is somewhat doubtful and I fear it is more than probable that his life will have to pay the forfeit of his crimes.-S. K. Sudbury, Suffolk [April, 1834].

An Attack of a large Sea Gull, in the Manner of a Species of rapacious Bird, upon a Kittiwake Gull. As the following

circumstance seems rather extraordinary, perhaps some correspondent will please to inform me whether it is known usually to occur among birds of the gull kind: As I was returning from collecting fossils in the neighbourhood of Charmouth, Dorsetshire, my attention was drawn to a large seagull darting down into the river, and taking up in its feet (or bill?) a small gull (which afterwards proved to be a kittiwake) to some height in the air; when it let it drop, and caught it again, several times, till it came at last down towards the river: when I ran to the spot, and shouted as loud as I could; and made the large gull drop the bird, which I secured at last, in a dying state, by jumping into the river; and, having taken it home, preserved it for my brother's collection. The large one, however, hovered over for some time, with the view of obtaining it again. As the captured bird has, instead of a fourth toe, only a small warty protuberance, so remarkable, that we noticed it before we referred to Montagu or Bewick, it is impossible to mistake this for any other species than the kittiwake.

[The Kittiwake is common on the Coast of Dorsetshire.]— It is rather remarkable that Montagu should mention the kittiwake as a rare bird in the south of England, he having stated only one instance as occurring, in which three birds of this species were washed ashore in Devonshire. My brother and myself shoot them more commonly than those of any other species of gull. I may also mention

A few rather rare Birds that are met with in this neighbourhood; namely: Purple sandpiper (Trínga marítima), grey phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus), bee-eater (Mèrops apiáster), whimbrel (Numènius minor), ash-coloured falcon (Circus cineràrius), merlin (Fálco Æ'salon), cirl bunting (Emberiza Cirlus), red-legged crow (Gráculus rufipes), rednecked grebe (Podiceps rubricóllis), stone curlew (Charadrius cdicnèmus; and the forked-tail petrel (Procellària Leàchii), which was found dead in a field at Charmouth. All of these, except the Mèrops, are in our collection. The Mèrops is now in the collection of Dr. Roberts, at Bridport: it was shot at Chidcock some years since.

In the Sherborne paper, another instance is mentioned of this bird having been shot, somewhere near Plymouth, on April 1. 1818. It is now, I believe, in the British Museum. - Beverley R. Morris. Charmouth, Dorsetshire, Feb. 1. 1834.

A common Heron, which I kept for some months in my garden, would, when disturbed, disgorge the contents of its stomach. This is probably a provision of nature to aid the VOL. VII. No. 42.

LL

escape of the bird by flight when pursued.-J. G. Lexden, Essex, 3d of 4th mo., 1834.

[The disgorgement may subserve to this effect, but is not fear the operating cause of it? We have been told, or have read of a vulture, or some bird, which, on being carried in the arms of some one, disgorged upon the dress, or person, of the carrier. A heron, disabled of flight, and captured, which we once saw carried in the arms, did not so (its stomach might be empty), but made a somewhat vigorous unexpected peck at the face of the person carrying it.]

The Falcónidæ, all of them, like the Owls, return by the Mouth the indigestible Remains of the Food they have swallowed, and generally just before they go to look for a fresh supply.

Insectivorous Birds also reject or disgorge the indurated parts of coleopterous insects.-Y. May 25. 1834.

[The Gulls, it would seem (p. 512.), and the Rook (244. 460.), also return by the Mouth the indigestible Remains of their Food.]

The Eggs of the Carrion Crow are sometimes covered. (VI. 209.)—I am nothing of an ornithologist, and feel by no means inclined to question the allegations of such a writer as Mr. Waterton, but I think the following remark (VI. 209.), in reference to the nest and eggs of the carrion crow, should be received with some qualification:-"Not a single particle of the lining of the nest is ever seen betwixt the eggs and the eye of him who has ascended the tree to take a view of them." This, I am bound to believe, had I no other authority than that of Mr. Waterton, is generally the case; yet, certainly, not universally. I climbed a birch tree last year, on which was situated a carrion crow's nest: it contained four eggs, and of these two only were visible, the others being covered by a quantity of loose moss, and wool, contained in the interior of the nest. This is the only instance I have seen, but I am persuaded that it is an occasional occurrence, or it would not, probably, have fallen under my observation, during the few opportunities I have taken of examining crows' nests. I presume, however, that the nest of the carrion crow is most frequently perfectly smooth, as Mr. Waterton says; but I have observed it in two or three instances to contain more or less loose materials, such as wool, hair, moss, &c.-J. Jones. Gelly, Llanfair, Montgomeryshire, March 28. 1834.

A pair of crows take up, generally speaking, a certain district, from which they beat all intruders; and woe betide the unfortunate straggler that chances to search for a dinner upon their domain. If one of the pair that is thus located be killed, another partner is immediately procured, and domi