MISCELLANY. 107 



less compelled by the severity of the winter. The Wild Swan has been poetically 

 called " the peaceful monarch of the lake," because he does not prey upon any 

 of the feathered tribe, living wholly upon roots, seeds, and small insects, and 

 fears no foe that wings the sky. From these birds making their appearance in 

 our country at this period of the year, it no doubt indicates that winter has com- 

 menced in their northern home with much intensity, and consequently there is 

 some probability that we shall experience a very hard and inclement season. In 

 the winter of 1835, three of these gigantic birds were killed at a single shot by a 

 person in the parish of Ochiltree. — Ayr Observer, Dec, 1837. 



Addition to the Lancashire Faun a. — Mr. Scaife states, in the Magazine of 

 Natural History for October, 1837, that two specimens of Totanus ochropus [[the 

 Greenshank Sandpiper. — Ed.] were shot near Blackburn, in Lancashire, in July 

 and August, 1837- This species was omitted in my " Catalogue of Birds found 

 in Lancashire" (Vol. II., p. 349). — Peteb Rylands, Bewsey House, near 

 Warrington, Bee. 26, 1837- 



The Season. — Last week, a Strawberry, full ripe, was gathered in the gar- 

 den of Mr. John Holme, Bellvue, West Derby. — Preston Observer. — As a proof 

 of the mildness of the season, a Gooseberry bush in the garden of Mr. Bothwell, 

 Greenbank, is covered not only with buds, but exhibits some well-formed ber- 

 ries. Many of the bushes in the garden are in the same state. Such a circum- 

 stance at this season is almost, we believe, without a precedent. — Aberdeen He- 

 rald. — A Robin's nest with four eggs has been recently discovered in a flue in the 

 county Lunatic Asylum. The nest, with three of the eggs, is now to be seen at 

 the Cross Keys Inn. — Bedford Beacon. — A Whin Chat's nest with twelve eggs 

 was found in Carrock Fell on Christmas-day by two boys. — Cowslips were last 

 week plucked in the neighbourhood of Norton, Yorkshire, and a Fig-tree at 

 the Lord Seaham Inn, near Hartlepool, is now bearing fruit, being the third 

 crop. — A Salisbury correspondent of a local paper relates that whilst walking in 

 his garden on Christmas-day he observed a very beautiful yellow Butterfly, as 

 full of activity as in the month of June. — Doncaster Gazette, Jan. 5, 1838. — 

 [On the very day after the publication of the preceding paragraph in the Don- 

 caster Gazette, the thermometer fell, according to Mr. Murphy's prophecy, below 

 the freezing point, and continued to sink for a fortnight, with little intermission;, 

 at once blighting the hopes of those who, from age, illness, or other circumstances, 

 had both desired and anticipated an extraordinarily mild winter. All indica- 

 tions of the mildness of the season have, accordingly, entirely vanished as regards 

 the animal and vegetable kingdoms. — Ed.] 



The Sense of Taste in Birds. — The seat of every sense is variously modi- 

 fied to suit the habits of the animal. Those birds which obtain their food by 



vol. in. — NO. XVII. Q 



