A.OO Recoit Literature. LTttlv 



thej soon began to weaken and died when about six days old, when they 

 "were just beginning to'show feathers." Young Field Sparrows and two 

 Cowbirds hatched and tended in the same way, lived for only a few days ; 

 eimilar experiments with Bobolinks and Yellow-winged Sparrows had a 

 similar ending. In each case the foster-parents were faithful to their 

 charges. "To briefly summarize the work I have described in some 

 detail," says Mr. Scott, "forty-one different eggs of wild birds, represent- 

 ing six species, and three young birds already hatched, form the aggre- 

 gate of individuals dealt with. All of the forty-one eggs were fertile, and 

 were hatched by the foster-parents. This is suggestive in regard to the 

 propagating powers of wild birds, and though not conclusive, indicates a 

 much higher percentage of fertility in the eggs laid by them than obtains 

 in song birds when caged, or semi-domesticated. None of the young 

 which were hatched from these eggs reached a greater age than seven 

 days which would seem to indicate that the food supplied by the foster- 

 parents, which was the same on which they raised their own offspring, 

 was of a kind so different from that used by wild birds in rearing their 

 young, that it proved inadequate, I also believe that the nest lining was 

 of a character so unlike that of the nests natural to the foster-chicks, that 

 it prejudiced their development and growth." 



Evidently' canary-bird food is not a good substitute for the large pro- 

 portion of insect food our wild passerine birds are known to furnish for 

 the sustenance of their nestlings. — J. A. A. 



Scott on ' The Inheritance of Song in Passerine Birds.' — In a recent 

 paper in ' Science,' Mr. W. E. D. Scott presents some interesting observa- 

 tions on the inheritance of song in hand-reared Bobolinks and Red- 

 winged Blackbirds.' The birds were kept where it was believed they 

 could not hear the song of their own species, but were allowed to hear 

 the songs of many other birds. In the case of the Bobolinks, there was 

 no resemblance, either in the call-notes or the song, to any sounds 

 uttered by wild bobolinks; the call-notes of the Redwings resemble those 

 of the wild birds, but the song "seems to be made up of a composite 

 jumble wherein robin and thrush-like notes of great clearness and vol- 

 ume predominate." This is rather surprising when we consider how per- 

 sistent are the call-notes and the general character of songs in wild birds, 

 both in time and space, as exemplified throughout large genera, and 

 even among species of allied genera, as in certain genera of Thrushes, 

 Flycatchers, Bobwhites, etc. — J. A. A. 



1 The Inheritance of Song in Passerine Birds. Remarks and Observations 

 on the Song of hand-reared Bobolinks and Red-winged Blackbirds (Doli- 

 chonyx oryzivorous 2^\A Agelains phaniceits). By W. E. D. Scott. Science, 

 N. S., Vol. XIX, No. 473, p. 154, Jan. 22, 1904. 



