386 MISCELLANY. 



of any tree to which it is observed to be partial. It will then thrive much 

 better than if the room were merely " furnished " with dry perches, and it fre- 

 quently lives several years in perfect health. One instance of its living so long 

 as ten years has come to my notice ; this individual was reared from the nest, 

 and appeared to die of old age, as it seemed to have no malady to the last. This 

 cannot of course determine the length of its life in its natural state, for birds 

 never live half so long in cages as in their natural haunts. The Common Gold- 

 wing (Carduelis elegans) is said to have lived so long as twenty years in a cage, 

 though not perhaps on very good authority ; it is however certain, that the 

 Canary has been preserved ten, fourteen, and sixteen years, and on this account 

 we may infer that many of our small birds attain a considerable age in their 

 natural state. — Neville Wood's British Song Birds, p. 360. 



Observations on the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus). — I must think 

 you are soo severe upon poor Mr. Sparrow in the British Song Birds. I cannot 

 consider him a detested creature, and should scarcely feel myself justified in 

 applying this epithet to the most hideous creature in the creation. A few pairs 

 of these birds have annually taken possession of the holes make by the Bank 

 Swallows in a clay-pit adjoining this town, for the purpose of nidification. This 

 I consider a very unusual situation for the Sparrow to build in. I have ex- 

 amined several of the nests, and find them composed of a very small quantity of 

 materials — scarcely more than would suffice for the Bank Swallow, whose nests 

 lam inclined to suspect they usurp. — J. D. Salmon, Thetford, Norfolk, July 18, 

 1837. [[We did not term the Sparrow detested in our own feeling of the matter; 

 but that it is very generally detested amongst the agriculturists of this country, 

 can, we think, admit of no doubt. — Ed.] 



Sphinx Daphne. — I gave Curtis the name " Rosebay Moth" for this insect. 

 I got it from an old coloured print the late Mr. Burney shewed me of the larva, 

 though not much like'the one figured by Curtis. It would appear that it is not 

 new to Britain, and Mr. Burney wrote me word (on my telling him of its again 

 appearing in Britain), dated Jan. 11, 1834: — "Your anecdote of Mrs. Raddon 

 striking at Sphinx Nerii \Daphnis Nerii, Linn. — Ed.] with her parasol, I very 

 well remember ; but confess that the probability of her being mistaken as to the 

 species appeared to me so great, that I never laid it to heart as a fact likely to be 

 authenticated. The corroborations which you mention are indeed most unex- 

 pected and interesting." — J. C. Dale, Glanville's Wootton, Dorsetshire, July 9, 

 1837. 



The Common Kingfisher. — We have never yet seen a good figure of this bird, 

 and hope that the wood-engraving we now present— executed by an eminent artist 

 — may be considered a faithful representation. All the other figures we have seen 

 of it err in the too great bulkiness of the body ; for although a thick bird, it is 

 not so dumpy as ornithological draughtsmen would have us believe. 



