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of buntings, pipits, larks, wagtails, and other passerines, and regard it as a matter of course, but why a cock robin should take this freak into his head, or rather into his tail, seems perfectly inexplicable.-Edward Newman.

Autumnal Migration of the Willow Wren, Swallow and Blackcap.—On the 7th of September the willow wren reappeared, and several were observed in the garden, and the following day numbers had collected and were to be seen in all directions, flitting from tree to tree in search of their insect-food,— seemingly abundant, particularly on the sycamore,―occasionally settling on the ground, within a few yards of me, in the most confiding manner. Morris remarks, quoting Meyer, that this species is common in North America; but this is a mistake, or I am greatly at fault, none having been observed by me during a year's residence in Canada, though an allied species, the blue-eyed yellow warbler (Sylvia citrinella) is abundant and widely distributed, having been met with in Newfoundland, in the stunted larch-woods on the barren hills near St. John's: this familiar and interesting species, whose brilliant golden plumage is so attractive to the wanderer, was described in my Canada notes as a true willow wren, though differing from Sylvia Trochilus both in shape and colour; it is a stouter bird, and of a more intense yellow; the flight is not so buoyant and graceful, but its habits are identical: the length, according to Wilson, is five inches; that of the European species, male five inches, female five inches and one-sixth, which is worthy of note, it being the only Sylvia, as far as I know, except the sedge warbler, of which the female exceeds the male in size. From an early hour on September 13th numerous swallows were seen, their line of flight to the eastward, the wind having veered to that quarter during the night, lowering the temperature some degrees in one hour more swallows were seen than had been observed during the whole summer, and none bred here, and, what is more remarkable, no martin's nests are to be seen, where in former years they abounded; though the latter species is tolerably abundant, there has, as yet, been no flocking or assembling. Change of temperature has, I believe, notwithstanding the newly-broached theory as to light, caused this early flight, not to say migration, or I may be told that the swallow migrates in October; however, it could not have been "want of light" that caused this sudden move on the 13th of September, when we have the sun rising at 5.33 and setting at 6.18. On the 12th of October many swallows were seen sporting about as at midsummer, the thermometer being 60° at 9 A. M., and 63° at 1 P. M. in the shade. In the afternoon of the 14th several were seen, after a heavy shower, perched on the telegraph-wires, a favourite resort now. A writer in the Times' of September 18th wishes to know whether the male blackcap migrates before the female bird, as its moulting is completed two or three weeks earlier. Though I cannot answer the query, I would suggest that further observations be carried on, as the moulting of caged birds is uncertain, irregular, and not to be relied on, much depending on

the temperature and food. The writer also inquires what would become of the birds if liberated in the spring, when the " migratory fever" had set in, for if they were to go northward it would be beyond their "natural range." Their instinct would restrain them, being an unfailing guide, unless long caged, when the extent of flight would probably be to the first bush or garden-shrub within reach, without much regard to the points of the compass. Their restlessness up to the end of May might arise more from a breeding than a migratory propensity.-Henry Hadfield; Ventnor, Isle of Wight, October 15, 1874.

Late Breeding of Partridges.-The partridges have had very late broods this year. A gentleman out shooting near here, on the 9th of September, shot a single bird which rose in front of him, and then discovered that the bird had a family of twelve young partridges scarcely able to feed themselves; and while riding over the downs the previous week I saw two very young broods. As a rule, the birds this year are plentiful and very wild.— A. J. Clark-Kennedy.

Woodcocks in the Scilly Isles.-Up to this time thirty-five woodcocks have been shot at the Scilly Isles. The great autumnal flight seems to have passed over our Land's End district without their usual stop: a few scattered ones only have been seen.-Edward Hearle Rodd; Penzance, November 11, 1874.

Three specimens of this

The Kakapo, Owl-Parrot, or Night Parrot. strange bird were purchased last week by the authorities of the Zoological Society, and deposited in the Gardens; but as regards any pleasure or instruction they may afford the visitor of that establishment, they are likely to be of no more use than the kiwis are, and this may be estimated at zero. The owl-parrots are nocturnal; but many other animals now in the gardens are equally nocturnal, and yet it has never occurred to the Council to plant dense forests or construct deep caves in which they may be effectually prevented from seeing naturalists, and naturalists from seeing them. There is no occasion for this seclusion: Mr. Potts, who is thoroughly acquainted with the bird, says (S. S. 3623) that "all those who have kept a bird of this species as a pet agree in testifying to its intelligence and companionableness," and innumerable anecdotes told of a former captive of this species concur in representing it as peculiarly sociable, lively and amusing. We are therefore sacrificing the health and happiness of the bird, as well as the instruction and gratification of the public to a most untenable hypothesis, that it is good for him to be kept in the dark and in solitary confinement. Two out of the three recent acquisitions are confined in the condemned cell beyond the elands, the third is under the care of Goss, in the first cage on the right on entering the parrot-house, and he is furnished with a rabbit-hutch into which he may retreat on the least alarm, and in which it is just possible to see him by bending one's back until it is nearly

double. His size is large for a parrot, superior to that of owls in general, and almost equal to that of an eagle owl: the position in which I have seen him is rather horizontal; therefore he has little resemblance to Harrison Weir's well-known figure in Wood. The eye is the centre of what has been called a radiating disk, the feathers of which look stiff and bristle-like, and not at all like the feathers of the body and wings, which have a remarkably soft appearance; the tail seems to have been injured by confinement, and is not in good condition; but then, as to his colour, the late William Hunt, unrivalled as a painter of mossy backgrounds to his exquisite fruit and flower-pieces, never represented anything so beautifully mimetic as the kakapo the imitation of moss is perfect, and of course serves to conceal him in his native haunts. I have not heard of his flying, indeed I could readily agree with Mr. Buller that he is totally unable to fly (S. S. 3085). Mr. Buller says, "All those who have studied the bird in its natural state agree on this point, that the wings, although sufficiently large and strong, are perfectly useless for purposes of flight, and that the bird merely spreads them to break the force of its fall in descending from a higher point to a lower when suddenly surprised; in some instances even the use of them is neglected, the bird falling to the ground like a stone." I cannot find that either Mr. Buller or Mr. Potts, our two highest authorities on the birds of New Zealand, ever speak of having observed the bird in a wild state. When disturbed and compelled to evacuate his hutch for a moment, he runs back again with a shuffling and rapid motion, and immediately regains the site from which he was removed; this running is in a horizontal position, as though he were threading one of those meuses which are described as abounding in his retreats. In a state of nature the kakapo is said to eat a large quantity of moss, and Mr. Potts says that it feeds also on the tender shoots of Schefflera digitata, and on the young fronds of ferns, especially Asplenium bulbiferum, and speaks of masses of chewed fibre from which the nourishment has been abstracted occurring in its meuses. If the kakapo really chews its food it is a characteristic of bird-life quite new to me. At the Zoo he is offered monkey-nuts and maize, interspersed occasionally with other dainties; but we may yet hope to learn something more of his food, as also of his ways and his manners.-Edward Newman.

Didunculus strigirostris.-This rare bird, a native of the Samoan Islands, continues in apparent good health, but I believe is only deposited in the care of the Society at present: it would be a valuable acquisition to the collection if the Council of the Zoological Society are able to obtain it by gift or purchase.-Edward Newman.

Greater Shearwater on the Cornish Coast.-We have these birds with us again this autumn, but I have not observed any for some years previously on our coasts. Two I have just examined are in the same state of plumage as they mostly appear in, viz. light ash-coloured brown above, with lighter 3 N

SECOND SERIES-VOL. IX.

borders to the dorsal feathers, and underneath pure white, with the exception of an oblong brocoli-brown blotch on the centre of the belly about the size of the palm of your hand. This would give an idea of its being the last remnant of immature plumage, if the dark chocolate-coloured specimens are young birds; but I hesitate to say that it is so, after the opinion of Mr. Gould that this dark plumage is only indicative of a variety in old and young birds.— Edward Hearle Rodd.

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Greater Shearwater on the Coasts of Devon and Cornwall.-After an almost entire disappearance for many years, I am glad to say that the greater shearwater, or hackbolt," has again visited the coasts of Devon and Cornwall in some numbers, as I had the pleasure of examining three specimens, in the flesh, obtained off Plymouth on the 6th of November, and the next day two more out of four that were captured off Penzance. The five birds that were examined by me appeared rather smaller than usual, and were all in precisely the same state of plumage, apparently adult, with the exception of a longish patch of dark brownish gray on the centre of the belly. On former occasions, when the autumnal visits of this species were more frequent, many young birds in their first dark plumage (similar to one of Yarrell's figures) were obtained, but as yet I have not heard of any in that stage having been taken. The birds brought to Plymouth were, on dissection, found to be exceedingly fat and oily.-J. Gatcombe; Nov. 17.

An escaped Pelican killed at Faversham.-On the 10th of October a pelican was killed at Faversham by a coast-guardsman: it was in beautiful plumage, and exhibited no signs of confinement. On reading the report, Mr. Arthur Reeve, the manager of the Zoological Gardens at Margate, stated that a pelican flew from its pen in these gardens on Sunday, the 25th September: there can be little doubt that this was the same individual.

Little Gull near Shrewsbury.-A bird of the year of this species was killed recently near Shrewsbury, and forwarded to me for preservation.John Shaw; Shrewsbury.-' Field,' October 31.

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The Penguin at the Zoo.-I may truly say it is one of the greatest pleasures of my life to visit any newly-arrived animals at the station where they are exhibited to public inspection for public instruction: whether such station go by the name of "garden," vivarium," or "aquarium," matters but little. I like to watch them, to observe what they do, how they eat, drink, make love, and so forth. Naturalists have different proclivities, and these proclivities have inaugurated three distinct schools: the first school aims at rectifying the names; the second school brings compasses and a graduated rule to take measurement of the dried skins; while the third, or life school, cares only for what the animal does when allowed as much liberty as is consistent with his safe custody. Each school has its advantages, and the eventual union and amalgamation of the three may subserve a useful purpose: at present they are completely distinct.

I give in my adhesion to the last or "life school"; and therefore the acquisition and exhibition of a living penguin was a great treat, a red-letter day in my Natural-History calendar; in a word, to me it was a joy unspeakable. When I first saw him he was standing almost erect, as, according to books, penguins ought to stand: he was in the inner division of his compartment in the Eastern Aviary, and was making a tripod of himself, using his stumpy tail as a third leg: he had a most disconsolate air,-much that of a persecuted puppy compelled against his will to stand on his hind legs,his fore legs, or wings, or flappers, dangling helplessly on either side: on a careful examination I found he was resting on the entire length of his tarsi, but I have since seen him standing on his feet only, so that I must decline to lay down any law as to what he ought to do. While I was waiting for him to solve the question he fell plump down on his stomach, and immediately commenced swimming with his flappers in such a violent manner that I thought he must have broken or injured them, seeing that swimming in the air or on the unyielding surface of his prison-house, was, to say the least, an unsatisfactory and unremunerative mode of progression. On the occasion of my next call (it was on the 31st of October), he received me in the pelican's enclosure. He was standing on the edge of the circular tank in which the pelicans daily exhibit their piscatory feats to a select but highly appreciative audience. His manner now evinced great prostration of strength; his eyes were half-closed, and that laboured rhythmical panting which all bird-keepers recognise as the infallible precursor of approaching dissolution was unmistakably present. But the end was not so very near after all: life was still vigorous within him; for almost as soon as he saw the keeper Church, who entered with me, bringing a cold collation of living gudgeon, he once more fell plump on his stomach, and then, with a very seal-like movement, jerked and wriggled himself into the water. Here he seemed perfectly at home: on dry land he was evidently out of his element, wretched, helpless, dejected, ill, dying; in the water, vigorous, full of life, activity, and apparent health. I must confess I was disappointed not to see him turn on his back like a seal, but there is no occasion for this; he need not, like a seal, be ever on the look out for enemies by land, and therefore his eyes are in the usual bird-position. Directly he had launched himself into the water he ceased in all appearance to be a bird; his head and neck assumed the similitude of the same parts in some long-necked water-tortoise, possessing the same perfect freedom of motion, turning right or left as the frightened little fishes thrown in for his special delectation darted in either direction. It was evident he pursued them with wide-open eyes, for he followed them with precision and skill, notwithstanding the somewhat cloudy condition of the water he caught them with ease and dexterity, sometimes by the tail, but generally crosswise with the beak, and if so, the position was

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