62 



April 10, 1832. 



Joseph Cox Cox, Esq., in the Chair. 



A Report from Devereux Fuller, the Head Keeper, was read. It 

 was communicated to the Committee by the President. 



It stated that the period of gestation of the Puma, Fel'is concolor, L., 

 had been ascertained to be 96 or 97 days, the female in the Society's 

 Menagerie having admitted the male on Dec. 28, and brought forth 

 on the night of April 2 two young. The ground-colour of these is of 

 a paler fawn than that of either of the parents, and they are deeply 

 spotted, as was noticed on the former occasion (Part I. p. 158). The 

 eyelids of one of them were partially unclosed on April 9. The mother, 

 whose temper was always mild, has since become remarkably gentle, 

 purring when the keeper goes into her den, and allowing her young 

 ones to be handled and carried about without appearing to be annoyed 

 by such treatment. The young, on the contrary, were when first born 

 extremely fierce, hissing and scratching with all their might ; they 

 have, however, since become better tempered, though they are still 

 spiteful. The manners of both the mother and the young are similar 

 to those of the domestic Cat and her kittens, the former carrying the 

 latter about from place to place in her mouth. For a day or two previ- 

 ously to her littering she pulled the straw in her inner den into pieces 

 and thus formed a nest. 



On the former occasion the period of gestation could not be deter- 

 mined, the female having admitted the male several times j the last 

 of which was 97 days prior to her parturition j a month after this 

 latter occurrence (her single young one having been born dead,) she 

 admitted the male once only, and became pregnant with her present, 

 litter. 



A Note was read from Mr. Henry Tripp, of Orchard Wyndham, 

 Somersetshire, respecting the provision made by a male Hawk, after 

 the destruction of its female, for the nourishment of their young. On 

 the morning after the first night of her absence five small birds were 

 found placed on the side of the nest. These having been taken away, 

 nine others were found on the second morning ; among them were 

 a Blackbird and a Thrush. All of them were picked but not in the 

 least broken. On the third night the male bird was caught in a gin 

 set in the nest for that purpose. He had previously been so shy as to 

 evade all attempts at shooting him, while the female, on the contrary, 



