Queries and Answers. 483 



there." — Agronome, in a communication in IV. 556, 557. 

 Agronome, who is Mr. John Howden, lived some time in 

 Ireland, in the service of Lord Doneraile, upon his estate in 

 Doneraile. The fact of the carrion crow's occurring in Ire- 

 land is stated in IX. 128. ; and that of the natterjack toad's 

 (i5ufo iftibeta Flem.) occurring, in IX. 316, 317.] 



What is the best Method of depriving Birds of the Power of 

 Flight, with the least Appearance of Mutilation ? — E. Ventris. 

 Cambridge, Jan. 18. 1836. 



The best mode of permanently doing this is described in 

 Rennie's Montagu's Ornithological Dictionary, under the 

 article " Wing." — E. Blyth. Tooting, Surrey, March 10. 1836. 



Do any, and what, British Species of Birds breed before they 

 have attained Mature Plumage? — E. Ventris. Cambridge, 

 Jan. 18. 1836. 



We are in want of further information on this subject. 

 That some of the large Falconidae and Z/aridae do, is well 

 known ; but these are more than two years in acquiring their 

 fixed colours. (The iarus glaucus is, in some instances, at 

 least four years: see in VI. 27. 171. 278, 279.) Wilson 

 thus, in describing what he terms the " sea eagle," which is 

 no other than the young of the white-headed American species, 

 observes, as confirmatory of his suspicion of their identity, 

 that " their [the sea eagles'] place and manner of building on 

 high trees, in the neighbourhood of lakes, large rivers, or the 

 ocean, exactly similar to the bald [or white-headed] eagle, 

 also strengthens the belief," &c. — E. Blyth. Tooting, Surrey, 

 March 10. 1836. 



\_Does the Herring Gull (hdrus argentdtus Brunn.) acquire 

 its Mature Dress at the Autumnal Moult of the Third Year ? 

 a?id does it Breed before it has acquired it ? and does Cotifine- 

 ment affect the Moultings of the Gulls ?~\ — Most late authors 

 appear to consider the autumnal moult of the third year to 

 be the period at which the herring gull (Lams argentatus 

 Brunn.) acquires its mature dress. Can any of your cor- 

 respondents, from his own observation, inform me if this is 

 the case ? and whether it breeds before that dress is assumed ? 

 Audubon says that confinement affected the moultings of an 

 eagle : is it known to affect the gulls ? — T. S. Martin. Sea- 

 ton, near Axminster, Devonshire, June 18. 1836. 



Do not Rooks, in providing themselves with Nests, habitually 

 appropriate any Old Nests which have remained from a former 

 Year, either by Repairing and Adopting them, or by Using All 

 or Part of the Materials of which they are composed in the Con- 

 structio?i of their New Nests ? (VII. 515) This is an extension 

 of the question just introduced in VII. 515. If it be the fact 



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