MISCELLANIES. 107 



dart up into the air after an insect, and often approached within a few feet of 

 where we were standing. Although we watched it and followed it up the stream 

 nearly a quarter of an hour, we could not discover that it had a companion, there 

 being no other birds about the place, except a pair of Longtailed Tits and a few 

 Chaff Finches. The only note the Warbler uttered was low and short. We 

 watched the motions of the beautiful little creature with peculiar delight, as being 

 the first harbinger of an unusually late spring ; and when, in returning home, a 

 severe and protracted hail-storm overtook us, we remembered the lovely green and 

 yellow Warbler we had left alone amongst the leafless bushes with a pang. — Ed. 



Habits of the Sand Pigeon (Columba arenea, Salmon). — I have lately been 

 asked if I can suggest a better name than Stock or Wood Pigeon for the Columba 

 cenas of authors ; the provincial name in this district is Sand Pigeon, which I 

 cannot but consider fully as appropriate as Bank Swallow, applied in consequence 

 of the situation the bird selects for nidification. Those who live in woody dis- 

 stricts, however, might object to this specific designation, as the bird would then, 

 in all probability, breed in woods, but of this I am not certain. I am inclined to 

 suspect that the species is very local in its distribution in this county during 

 the breeding season, and that it is only towards its autumnal migration 

 that it is seen in very great numbers in the woodlands. I have known 

 an instance of its breeding in the top-most branches of the Scotch Fir, in a 

 similar manner to the Ring Pigeon (Columba palumbus), which is a true 

 arboreal species, and might with greater propriety be called Wood Pigeon. In- 

 deed the latter is given by Selby as a provincial name, by which, also, it is 

 always known in this county. If it be found necessary to make any alteration 

 in the nomenclature of the British Pigeons, I should be disposed to name them 

 thus : — Wood Pigeon, Columba palumbus ; Sand Pigeon, C. arenea ; Rock 

 Pigeon, C. livia. — J. D. Salmon, Tketford, Norfolk, Dec. 3, 1836. 



Organization of the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus, Linn.). — Mr. J. L. 

 Levison, of Doncaster, informs us that he considers the extraordinary habits of 

 the Cuckoo, as regards propagation, to result rather from a deficiency in the organ 

 of Constructiveness, than from any want of Philoprogenitiveness, which latter 

 propensity he states to be amply developed in this interesting bird. The habits 

 of the species certainly tend to confirm this view of the matter ; for it has been 

 observed that the Cuckoo frequently returns to the nest in which it has deposited 

 its egg ; and the anxiety of the bird to obtain a proper place for the reception of 

 its egg, is decidedly considerable. On the other hand, that the Cuckoo has never 

 made the remotest attempt at building a nest, is an incontrovertible fact. Mr. 

 Levison's observations on the development of the head of the Cuckoo, were 

 alluded to by that gentleman in a conversation with his friend the late Dr. 



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