MISCELLANY. 327 



It is a fine object to observe the female of this large bird eeated fearlessly on her 

 nest, her long tail projecting upwards, and her great and mild black eye watching 

 confidently the movements of those at hand. We stood for several minutes in 

 admiration of one in the cleft of a low dwarf Apple-tree in the garden ; and, 

 being desirous of seeing the nest and eggs, it was not without almost pushing her 

 off her nest that I could induce her to quit it for a few minutes, to gratify my 

 curiosity. 



I have since seen a nest of the same bird in Kent ; but in the districts where 

 the large Mistletoe Thrush is found, it requires some care to distinguish between 

 the two ; for both birds build, in the same situations, a grassy nest ; and it is 

 only on the wing, or in the hand, that the female can be readily distinguished. 

 The plumage of the male birds, as well as their mode of flight and note, is suffi- 

 ciently distinct. — George Fairholme, in the Magazine of Natural History, 

 No. VII., N. S., July, 1837. 



Mortality among Birds. — In your number for June (p. 163), I noticed an 

 extract from a Lausanne journal, giving an account of a singular mortality among 

 the feathered tribes in the neighbourhood of Soleure. The following somewhat 

 similar occurrence took place probably about the same time. Whilst botanizing 

 on the 3rd and 4th of June, at Middleton Teesdale, Durham, I observed in 

 various places, amongst the Ling on the Moors, a considerable number of dead 

 moorfowl, one or two of which were still warm, remarkably full in the crop, and 

 apparently in a good and healthy state, which they of course would not have 

 been had they died of hunger, or the inclemency of the late winter. The 

 guide attributed it to a Worm, a disease to which he said they were liable. I 

 did not dissect any of them,and therefore cannot confirm or disprove his assertions. 

 The birds had been particularly sluggish on the wing, but at the time I was 

 there they were very swift, and often saluted us with their sudden rise and crow 

 as we brushed through the heather. The mortality appears to have been con- 

 fined to the higher districts, as I am unable to learn that anything of the kind 

 has occurred in the lower. Some have attributed it to a deficiency of sand, 

 owing to the long continuance of snow on the mountains. — E., York, Aug. 8, 1837. 



Robin Redbreast ( 'Rubecula familiaris ) with white Wings. — The seventh 

 number of your work, for April (p. 53), contains an account of a singular mal- 

 formation in the mandibles of the Redbreast (Rubecula familiaris). Perhaps 

 the case alluded to is unique ; but the Redbreast is a species much, liable to 

 variation. I have seen them nearly white. Last summer (1836) I observed 

 one in this parish which had the primaries in both wings snow-white. I lost 

 sight of it during the winter, but have again seen it several times during the 

 summer. — R. P. Alington, Swinhope House, Lincolnshire, July 15, 1837. 

 [The bird mentioned by our correspondent was singularly fortunate in remaining 



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