176 Mr. P. L. Sclater ua the occuri'ence 



mile from each other. Whilst singing, they spread their tails over 

 their heads like a peacock, and droop their wings to the ground, 

 at the same time scratching and pecking up the earth. They 

 sing in the morning and evening, and more so in winter than at 

 any other season. The young cocks do not sing until they get 

 their full tails. This, I fancy, takes place in the fourth year, as 

 I have shot them in full feather with the tail in four diflferent 

 stages, the two centre curved feathers being the last to make 

 their appearance. They live entirely upon small insects, prin- 

 cipally beetles, and partake largely of sand, which accounts for 

 their preferring sandy localities. Their flesh is not eatable, being 

 dark, dry and tough, and quite unlike that of other birds. They 

 breed in mid-winter, commencing to build their nests in May, 

 laying in June, and having young in July. The nest is gene- 

 rally placed on the side of some steep rock where there is suffi- 

 cient room to form a lodgement, so that no animals or vermin can 

 approach it. It is constructed of small sticks, interwoven with 

 moss and fibres of roots. The inside is lined with the skeleton 

 leaf of a parasitical tree-fern, which resembles horse-hair. The 

 nest is covered over, having the entrance on the side. Only one 

 egg is laid, of a very dark colour, appearing as if it had been 

 blotched over with ink. The young bird for the first month is 

 covered with a white down, and remains in the nest about six 

 weeks before it takes its departure. It is four years before 

 it arrives at maturity. The native name for this Menura is 

 " Calwin.'^ 



Singleton, Dec. 9, 1859. 



XVII. — Notice of the occurrence of the American Meadow-Star- 

 ling (Sturnella ludoviciana) in England. By Philip Lutley 

 Sclater. 



A SHORT time ago, the Rev. Henry Temple Frere, of Burston 

 Rectory, near Diss in Norfolk, forwarded for my inspection a 

 specimen of the Meadow-Starling of North America {Sturnella 

 ludoviciana), stated to have been killed in this country in the 

 course of last year. Its plumage was in fine condition, and did 

 not show the slightest traces of the bird having been in cap- 



