2K CORRESPONDENCE. 



Promiscuous Notes on various Topics. 

 To the Editor of the Naturalist. 



Respected Friend, — In reply to the query by E. Blyth in your September 

 number (Vol. II., p. 291), as to the sexes of my specimens of Papilio podalirius, 

 I may inform him that they appear to be male and female. I may also observe 

 that I do not know whether the Pterocles are blind at birth or not, and remain 

 in the nest a considerable time. I certainly should be surprised to find so great 

 a deviation from the habits of their congeners in that respect. Still, as I have no 

 opportunity of ascertaining the point, I will not assert that they do or do not, 

 but must merely say as I did before, that I believe all the Tetraonidce see and 

 run from their nests at birth. 



Notwithstanding the unusual severity of the past spring, and the late appear- 

 ance of the generality of our spring birds, a single Swallow was shot in the im- 

 mediate neighbourhood of York on the first of April, which is earlier, with one 

 exception, than I ever recollect meeting with Swallows myself. 



Some months back a Grey Parrot which had been a great favourite, and, as I 

 understand, one of the greatest talkers of its species, was submitted to my 

 examination, as its owner suspected its death had been occasioned by poison. 

 On examination I found that its death was owing to pulmonary consumption. 

 The lungs were one mass of pus ; and on being placed in water, immediately 

 sank to the bottom. I believe a very large proportion of the Monkeys brought 

 to this country die of this complaint ; and one would not be surprised to find 

 that birds from warm and tropical climates did the same. Still, out of all the 

 birds I have dissected, amounting to some hundreds, this is the first instance I 

 have detected of diseased lungs ; and I should like to know whether any of your 

 correspondents ever met with similar cases. Birds seem in a great measure ex- 

 empt from the diseases of quadrupeds ; it is very common to find diseased and 

 carious bones in quadrupeds that have been kept in confinement, the disease 

 extending over most of the extremities ; but it is very unusual to find a diseased 

 state of the bones in birds, except in the immediate neighbourhood of an injury. 

 I have myself only met with a single instance of a bird where bones were gene- 

 rally diseased. It was that of a^King Vulture which was sent me by the noble 

 proprietor of the Knowsley aviary [[the Earl of Derby. — Ed.], and the disease 

 appeared to have its origin in a broken wing. 



Since I sent my paper on the Rasorial birds (Vol. II., p. 57) Swainson's 

 second volume On the Classification of Birds has made its appearance. There 

 the Columbidce are also classed in the Rasores. This induced me to read to a 

 club of some of the members of our Philosophical Society a paper " On the Qui- 

 nary System, as carried out by modern ornithologists in the Rasorial order of 



