33 



Occurrence of the Great Bustard, (Otis tai'da,) in Devon. — On Saturday 

 last I was much interested in examining, at the house of Mr. Drew, Taxidermist, 

 Stonehouse, a fine specimen of the Great Bustard, sent to him for preservation, 

 by J. G. Newton, Esq., Millaton Bridestow, Devon, with a note stating it 

 was shot some days previously, (on December 31st.) The bird being perfectly 

 fresh, and Mr. Drew having only just completed the operation of skinning it 

 when I called, I had the opportunity of ascertaining the sex, and examining 

 the contents of its stomach. It proved a female, and the stomach contained 

 a large quantity of turnip leaves, mixed with several flat flinty stones about 

 the size of a sixpence. The base of the feathers on the breast and back were 

 of a beautiful rose-colour. — John Gatcomhe, Plymouth, January 5th., 1852. 



On the Cuckoo, (Cuculus canorus.) — So much having been said on the 

 subject of Cuckoos in the late numbers of ^^The Naturalist," the following 

 additional facts may not be unacceptable to some of your readers. In my 

 collection I have six eggs of the Cuckoo, at least three of which were taken 

 from nests of the Hedge Accentor, or Hedge Sparrow, in Middlesex; and it 

 is remarkable that one nest contained the Cuckoo's egg 07ily when it was 

 found. I myself, in 1840, took a Cuckoo's egg out of the nest of the Reed 

 Warbler, {Salicaria aruncUnacea,) suspended between reeds gi'owing in the River 

 Isis, near Oxford: the said nest contained also three eggs of the Reed Warbler. 

 From the very slender support which the reeds afforded to the nest^ I infer 

 that in this instance the Cuckoo deposited her egg with her hill. Is any 

 other instance of a Cuckoo's egg being found in the nest of the Reed Warbler 

 authenticated? I have shot a Cuckoo, a young bird of the year, early in 

 September in Yorkshire. — H. J. Torre, Pleasley, near Mansfield, December 5th., 

 1851. , 



Note on the CucJcoo. — With regard to the question whether the Cuckoo assists 

 in feeding its young, I have generally seen an old one not far from the nest 

 containing the young Cuckoo. We once found an egg in a Wagtail's nest, 

 not far from the hous3 ; the Cuckoo was frequently in the garden, and repeat • 

 edly uttered its cry of ^cuckoo,' but we did not pay sufficient attention to 

 ascertain if it assisted in feeding the young one. — G. Grantham, (in a letter to 

 The liev. F. 0. Iforris;) .East Shalford, Guilford, September ISth., 1851. 



P. S. — I shot a young Cuckoo on Tuesday last. 



Note on tJte Lapwing, (Vanellus cristatus.) — In the early part of last season, 

 while walking over the hills which run between Midlothian and Peebleshire, on 

 a bare elevated ridge of hill I found a nest of the Green Plover, ( Vanellus 

 cristatus,) containing one egg. From the appearance of the egg, it was evident 

 that the bird, if alive, would soon burst the shell. On detaching a portion 

 of the shell, I found the bird alive, and apparently strong; thinking the mother 

 had walked off with the other young, and left this unfortunate to perish, I 



VOL. II. F 



