MISCELLANIES. 105 



pose of restoring the breed to that royal hunting-ground ; but they were all of 

 them destroyed during the civil war. A similar attempt has, I believe, been 

 lately made in Bere Wood, in Dorsetshire ; but one of the Boars having injured 

 a valuable Horse belonging to the worthy Nimrod who exhibited this specimen of 

 sporting epicurism, he caused them to be destroyed. — Bell's History of British 

 Quadrupeds, p. 360. 



Disposition op the Robin Redbreast (Rubecula familiaris, BlythJ— 

 Although the Robin Redbreast is a most pugnacious creature, yet it is far from 

 being destitute of attachment to its kind. One that we caught and caged in No- 

 vember, 1835, was for several weeks constantly attended by its mate, which seems 

 to prove that this bird pairs for life. When any one approached the cage, the 

 male departed very unwillingly, and, if wholly excluded from the room in which 

 the prisoner was confined, it would utter the most unceasing and piteous wailings. 

 After some time, however, the visits became gradually less frequent, and at length 

 ceased altogether. — Ed. 



Period of arrival of the Garden Fauvet (Ficedtda hortensis). — I have 

 noticed, for many seasons past, that although some Garden Fauvets (or 

 " Garden Warblers") always arrive about the close of April, we continue to 

 receive a constant accession to their numbers till the beginning of June. I par- 

 ticularly observed this last year, and now again at the present time ; it having 

 been a subject of remark with me, all the spring, that in the delightful wild 

 garden I have already mentioned (p. 77), there were but few visitants of this 

 species ; but this morning I saw no less than three, which were singing away 

 merrily. — Edward Blyth, Tooting, Surrey, June 9, 1836. 



The Song of the Missel Thrush (Turdus viscivorus, Linn.). — I have lately 

 heard the song of the Missel Thrush ; its notes are not much unlike those of the 

 Garden Ouzel (Merula vulgaris, Ray), but neither so varied nor so mellow. I 

 now find that I have repeatedly heard this bird, but had always supposed it to be 

 the Garden Ouzel. I cannot be mistaken in this circumstance, having approached 

 several birds sufficiently near clearly to identify them. The top of a Fir tree is 

 a favourite place for uttering its song. — J. D. Salmon, Thetford, Norfolk, June 6, 

 1836. 



Preservation of Zoological Specimens. — I have often noticed, with regret, 

 both in public and private museums, in this country, that the damp was making 

 fearful inroads among the zoological specimens ; and, as I learned, while in France, 

 some time since, a most simple and efficacious remedy for that evil, I beg to sub- 

 mit it to you for the benefit of your readers and the public. A glazed flower-pan, 

 of the size of a dessert plate, placed in the cases, at intervals of eight or ten feet, 

 and filled with quicklime, will rapidly imbibe all damps, and will only require 

 renewing when it is found that the lime is completely saturated.— -As a preven- 

 No. 8, Vol. II. p 



