Letters, Extracts, Notices, i^c. 219 



-and which 1 understand intends to include all feathers in its 

 field of work, will be able to do much good. 



It is to the civilized West that one must look, and I fear 

 look in vain, for help ! 



That it is a subject in which I know you take an interest 

 must be my excuse for inflicting this lengthy document on 

 you. 



Yours &c., 



FoocllOW, C. B. RiCKETT. 



August 25th, 1899. 



SiKSj — It may interest your readers to know that a female 

 Yellow-billed American Cuckoo {Coccyzus americanus) Avas 

 found lying dead at Craig-y-don, on the shores of the ]Menai 

 Straits, on the 10th inst. It was in good condition, and I 

 have had it placed in my collection. 



I presume that it was brought over by the heavy westerly 

 gales prevailing at the time. Apparently this is only the 

 sixth instance of this l)ird having been found in this 

 country. 



Yours &c., 

 2o Aberciombv Sq^uare, Liverpool, Gko. DickINSOX, 



November 16th, 18*J0. 



The Pairiuf/ and Incabation of the Ostrich. — In refei-ence 

 to the vexed question of the mode of pairing and incubation 

 of the Ostrich (see Ibis, 1899, p. 481), our attention has 

 been called to the excellent article on this subject published 

 by Mr. S. C. Cronwright Schreiner in the 'Zoologist' of 1897 

 (p. 97). Mr. Schreiner, wdio has had nine years' experience 

 of Ostrich' farming in Cape Colony, shows most conclusively 

 that the Ostrich is practically monogamous, one male 

 and one female pairing and making the nest, both birds 

 taking their share in the duties of incubation — " the hen 

 sitting generally from 8 or 9 a.m. to about 4 p.m., and the 

 cock from 4 p.m. to about 8 or 9 a.m.'^ — and both parents 

 takin"" char2C of the voung birds when hatched. The curious 



