828 MISCELLANY. 



so long unmolested, as in general all the guns in the neighbourhood are in full 

 chase in these cases. We have seen and heard of many partially white varieties 

 of the Robin Redbreast, and have been told of one which had the whole plumage 

 entirely so. — Ed.] 



The Siskin breeding in Scotland. — Our esteemed correspondent, Mr. Wil- 

 liam Drew, of Paisley, has favored us with the following notice respecting this 

 bird: — I have remarked the account of the Siskin contained in your journal of 

 this month. Undoubted as the circumstance of its breeding in Scotland must 

 now be, from the respectable authority of Mr. Weir, yet I do not think it amiss 

 so far to corroborate his observations. Early in June, 1833, at which time I 

 resided at Inverary, I went out one morning to fish, and, according to my usual 

 practice, I carried a light gun with me. I was rather surprised, at that season, 

 to see a pair of Siskins among some Furze bushes, on the shore of Lochfine, and 

 the birds being close together, I killed both. On dissecting the female, an egg 

 was found ready for exclusion, and I never had any doubt but that the birds 

 were breeding in the neighbourhood, though I did not look for or see the nest. It 

 is very likely that it was in some of the Spruces, which were the predominant 

 trees in the place. I subsequently secured a pair of Siskins in the same locality. 

 —-Edinburgh Journal of Natural History, Part VII . 



[We have long been pretty certain that the Siskin breeds both in England and 

 Scotland, though probably rarely in the former. Still Mr. Drew's communica- 

 tion is valuable ; and it is a pity he should not sooner have caused it to see the 

 light. Facts of this kind are always valuable, and ought never to be kept back 

 on any account. — Ed.] 



Grey Linnet with a white Ring round the Neck. — In your last num- 

 ber (No. x., for Aug., p. 208), Mr. Morris gives some account of the varieties 

 of plumage he has found amongst birds of the same species. Perhaps a singularly 

 marked specimen of the Grey Linnet (Fringilla cannabina) which I saw a few 

 days ago flying near Bawtry, may be worth noticing. It had a broad ring of 

 white feathers round its neck, which became narrower towards the front, and 

 expanded behind, so as to reach a little way down the back. The rest of the 

 plumage was pretty near the general hue, though I thought the grey a shade 

 lighter. It appeared to me to be a female bird. — W.R. Scott, Doncaster, Julj/9,1 S37. 



Sensibility of Canary-birds to Noxious Air. — It is a remarkable fact, 

 that if a Canary-bird be hung up in a cage at the head of a bed with close cur- 

 tains, it will be found dead in the morning. — Curtis on Health, p. 22. 



Does the Rook Crow (Corvus nudirostris) ever imitate the Notes of the 

 Daw Crow (C. monedula) ? — I do not think the Rook is guilty of ventriloquism; 

 but I have often put the above query to myself, when I have seen a number of 

 Rooks pass over my head, and have every now and then heard the noise which I 



