122 CRITICAL NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



Coot, the forehead and beyond it are covered with a sort of feathers 

 — for so we must term them — each of which is a small flattened 

 oblong lobe, separate from, and overlapping, those behind it. In 

 like manner, the elegant tips to certain of the wing and some- 

 times tail-feathers which distinguish the Wax-wings, are not, 

 as generally described, prolongations of the shaft, or even ap- 

 pendages, in strictness of language ; but they are modifications 

 of the whole substance of the feather, not increasing its total 

 length: in one specimen in our possession, which has these red 

 tips unusually large, there is a single secondary in one wing that 

 wants this structure, although those on each side of it are thus dis- 

 tinguished ; and the barb of this one extends beyond the others, 

 reaching to the termination of their red tips. It may be added, that 

 the rictorial bristles of birds are also true feathers, and are annual- 

 ly moulted like the rest of the plumage. Of this any person will be 

 at once convinced who examines their condition in a young nestling. 

 We have next two excellent representations of the Oystercatcher's 

 egg, accompanied by some curious remarks on its nidification and 

 habits in the breeding season. " It is very particular," says Mr. 

 Hewitson, " in its selection of a situation for its eggs, always choos- 

 ing a piece of gravel or stony ground, if to be met with, especially 

 if mixed with bits of broken shells, to which it shews a curious par- 

 tiality, carefully collecting them together, and arranging them in a 

 slight hole in the ground : when these are not to be found, it selects 

 small flat pieces of stone. There is something very singular in the 

 habits of this bird, which has always puzzled me greatly : simple as 

 are the hard materials composing its nest, it is as particular in the 

 arrangement of them as many of our smaller birds, in the softer 

 compositions of their neat and beautiful abodes. In this it seems 

 to have much difficulty in pleasing itself, and makes numerous nests 

 ere it fixes upon one ; this I have always noticed, and in some 

 instances have seen as many as a dozen, all apparently as well 

 finished as the one containing the eggs. Nothing can exceed the 

 very extraordinary and anxious solicitude evinced by this bird on your 

 approaching the nest ; it flies round and round you, uttering its 

 loud and piercing cry, and becoming more and more noisy as you 

 near the nest. It lays three eggs, varying as figured in the plate ; 

 the spotted variety occurring more frequently than the other," which 

 is darker and streaked. " The young birds run soon after they 

 leave the shell, and are very active. On being pursued, they hide 

 their little heads in the first hole, as a beaten fighting cock will do, 

 considering themselves safe when you are no longer visible ; the 

 down with which they are covered is beautifully mottled." Having 

 quoted so much, we may add that their first feathers, as in many 

 other species, resemble those of the adults in summer dress, except- 

 ing in being very much looser and more downy in texture. There 

 is better philosophy than people seem generally to suppose in this 

 concealment of their faces, for, on the stones, the bright quick eyes 

 of the little chicks are the most apt to excite observation. Wilson, 



