on some Species of British Quadrupeds, Birds, and Fishes. 277 



means of becoming more intimately acquainted with its manners 

 ann habits, which may possibly be as interesting to a few others 

 as they were to us, and therefore we beg leave to add the follow- 

 ing particulars to the natural history of that bird. 



About the middle of July we discovered a nest (on an old stump 

 of a tree upon a bank) not quite finished, which we suspected to 

 belong to this bird; and on visiting it again on the 2.5th we found 

 that it contained four eggs, which proved to be those of the bird 

 in question; two of these were taken away, and in a lew days two 

 others were deposited*, which, with the other two before left, 

 Mere suffered to remain, in order to become acquainted, as much 

 as possible, with the natural history of this species. 



On the 12th of August Ave revisited the nest, and found the 

 young had been hatched some days, as they could see, and had 

 thrown out some stubs in the wings ; so that the time of incuba- 

 tion could not have been more than twelve or thirteen days. 



On the 15th we took two young ones from the nest, with a view 

 of rearing them by hand, and left the others as a reserve, in case 

 of failure: these birds did not thrive on bread and bruised turnip- 

 seed, or such food as is generally given to the smaller hard-billed 

 birds, the goldfinch, linnet, and others, and became so weak that 

 they refused all sustenance. In this debilitated state we returned 

 them to the nest on the 18th, and took the other two, which had 

 prodigiously exceeded these in growth. 



Observing on the side of the bill of one of the last taken, the 

 saltatoreal leg of the common grasshopper, Gryllus grossus, it was 

 a sufficient hint to procure as much as possible those insects for 

 their food : and by the assistance of a little boiled flesh, beef or 



* Whether it is unusual for this species to lay six eggs cannot be determined; but in 

 the two or three other nests that have come within our knowledge, either with eggs or 

 young, four or five only were found in them . 



mutton. 



