of the Breeding of the Waxwing. 93 



tribute to its pages the particulars of his discovery of the breed- 

 ing of the Waxwing (Ampelis garrulus, Linn,), and that in the 

 spring of 1859 he had selected from his extensive series some 

 specimens of its eggs, which he handed over to Mr. Hewitson, — 

 that gentleman having kindly consented to execute a plate in 

 illustration of the paper. Mr. Wolley's failing health prevented 

 him from carrying out his design, and I have therefore thought 

 it incumbent upon me, as the inheritor of his collection and 

 papers, to supply the deficiency as far as I am able. I shall in 

 a great measure tell the story in his own words, believing that 

 in so doing I shall not only lessen the chance of erroi", but that 

 thereby I shall best consult the wishes of my readers. 



It is unnecessary to repeat here the fabulous accounts given 

 by former writers respecting the nidification of this bird. The 

 very plain statement communicated by i\Ir. Wolley to the Zoo- 

 logical Society, on the evening of the 24th of March, 1857, is 

 sufficient to set them at rest for ever*. But still I may re- 

 mark, that from the days of Linnaeus (who said of it, " nidus in 

 rupium antrisf), downwards, nearly all the conjectures pub- 

 lished seem to have been wide of the mark. In years gone by, 

 one of the hardiest of our Arctic explorers, Sir John Richardson, 

 had failed to ascertain anything connected with its breeding in 

 the Fur-countries of the North-WestJ, and, more recently, the 

 intrepid Siberian traveller. Dr. A. von MiddendorfF, was equally 

 unsuccessful in the North-East §. Yet it may be safely said 

 that there was no bird whose egg was so longed for by the oolo- 

 gists of the whole world. Various were the plans they bethought 

 them of for attaining this desideratissimum. Many tried to keep 



* Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 185/, p. 55. A notice of this 

 paper is inserted in the Athenffium newspaper for April 4, 1857, no. 1536, 

 p. 441, and also in Wiegmann's Archiv fiir Naturgeschichte, 1858, ii. 

 p. 24 ; an abstract of it is printed in the Literary Gazette for April 4, 

 1857, no. 2098, p. 334 ; and it is published almost entire in the Annals and 

 Magazine of Natural History, 2nd ser. vol. xx., p. 308, and in the Zoologist 

 for 1857, p. 5754. In the "Memoir" of Mr. Wolley, printed in ' The Ibis,' 

 1860, p. 181, the date is erroneously given "March 26th." 



t Systema Naturae, ed. 13 {curd Gmel.), vol. i. pt. 2. p. 838. 



X Fauna Boreali-Americana, ii. p. 238. 



§ Sibirische Reise, II. ii. p. 157. 



