50 H. LEWIS — NOTES ON BIHDS 



silent desolation of unknown countries, shut out . . . from the 

 prying eye of man by everlasting and insuperable barriers of ice. 

 That such places abound with their suitable food we cannot 

 for a moment doubt, while the absence of their great destroyer, 

 man, and the splendours of a perpetual day, may render such 

 regions the most suitable for their purpose.' This restlessness of 

 the species," Gray then remarks, "becomes apparent in April, and 

 continues until the middle of May, when the great body has passed 

 northwards for the purposes of incubation. There can be no doubt 

 that on their return southwards many birds are driven out of their 

 reckoning, and find their way to the shores of Great Britain." 

 According to the late Sir John Richardson this species occasionally 

 breeds in trees on the banks of the Saskatchawan, taking posses- 

 sion of and depositing its eggs in the deserted nests of ravens and 

 eagles. A raven's nest is no doubt a bulky enough structure, but 

 after having been sat upon by a fat goose during the period of 

 incubation it must have greatly perplexed the original proprietor 

 on visiting it the following spring when trying to identify its own 

 property. Dr. Coues, in his 'Birds of the North West' (p. 554) 

 reports that the Canada goose nests "in trees, the old birds carrying 

 their young when hatched down to the water in their bills." This 

 habit of carrying their young is possessed by a number of other 

 bii'ds. The woodcock is a well-known instance. In case of danger 

 the bird will convey her young in her claws to a place of safety. 

 Mr. John "Watson, in 'Sylvan Folk' (p. 92), says: "Not only do 

 swans, coots, grebes, and moor-hens carry their young on their 

 backs whilst swimming, but the same birds transport their young 

 whilst flying." He also states that the mallard or wild duck has 

 been known to convey its young from an elevation of at least thirty 

 feet from the ground; and that "another duck, the golden- eye, 

 which builds in trees, has been seen to transport its young to the 

 water." "Young guillemots," he says, "are carried by their 

 parents to the water from the beetling sea-cliffs where they breed, 

 though in what manner is not yet definitely known. The same set 

 of facts apply to the herring-gull and other sea-bii'ds which build 

 on high rocky headlands." 



Mr. Arthur Lewis has given me an amusing instance of the 

 nesting of a mallard or wild duck, in his possession, on his 

 bee-house. The bird enticed her young to the edge of the roof, 

 gave one a push with her beak, and over-toppled the youngster 

 on to the grass ; she flying down, the rest were precipitated 

 pell-mell after her. 



. I will now refer to the occurrence during the past year of a few 

 rare bu'ds which are already on our register. 



The Waxwing {Ampelis garndus). — In January (1893) Mr. 

 Seymour received for preservation a specimen of this beautiful bird 

 which had been picked up dead on the side of the River Lea, 

 near Hertford ; and Mr. Norman Thrale, of Enfield Lock, 

 wrote to mc to the following effect: "Two waxwings were shot 

 by Mr. E. Jackson, of Potter's Bar, at Northaw, Herts, on the 27th 



