SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES, BY SIR WM. JARDINE. 403 



THE ROOK. Letter XV., page 60. 



The common rook, (corvus frugihgus,) seems to be more subject to 

 a white variation than its other British congeners. Species entirely 

 white are not often seen, but individuals, with parts of the wings and 

 tail pure white, occur in almost every rookery. A pair of magpies 

 entirely of a cream colour were hatched at a farm-steading in Eskdale, 

 Dumfriesshire, and being much thought of by the tenant, were strictly 

 preserved, and continued near the spot for many years. 



STONE CURLEW. -Letter XVI., page 61. 



Mr. White's remarks, passim, in his Correspondence in regard to this 

 species are very interesting, and it was evidently a favourite with him. 

 Has it been driven from its haunts, or does it still frequent the locality ? 

 It is by this group that we trace the alliance of the bustards. Mr. 

 Yarrell does not trace it beyond Yorkshire. We have no record of its 

 being killed in Scotland. Mr. Thompson notes it as a rare visitant to 

 Ireland. It ranges to the plains between the Black and Caspian Seas, 

 Asia Minor and Madeira. 



Mr. Herbert, in one of his notes inserted in Bennet's edition, refers 

 to a curious circumstance, that in his observations the bird is never 

 found to breed except on "the chalk;" this will, however, require 

 confirmation. 



NUTHATCH. Letter XVI., page 65, note. 



In this note I stated that our common species is the only one inhabiting 

 Europe. In the latest European ornithology, by M. Degland, Sitta 

 walensis is given as an occasional visitant : another, Sitta syriaca, more 

 frequently occurs, and is common also in Greece and Syria. According 

 to the authority quoted, it is also found in Dalmatia, the Levant, and 

 Syria, and I have lately received a specimen from my son, of H.M.S. 

 Caledonia, shot when the fleet was in the vicinity of Athens. The species 

 of this group from Alpine India amount to five or six, and are remark- 

 able hi the alliance of form and colour to those of Europe. 



TOADS. Letter XVII., page 67, text and note f. 



To this note we would only add, that toads deposit their spawn, or ova, 

 in long strings, instead of in a mass as the common frog does ; and the 

 beautiful spotted chains that are often seen in pools in spring, as if 

 looped over each other, is their ova newly deposited. The "venom of 

 toads " has been discarded as a fable ; still, the excretion from the 

 skin possesses some properties, perhaps fitted for protection. We 

 possessed a large Labrador dog, very fond of carrying anything, dead or 

 alive, which took a fancy to seek out toads from among the strawberry 

 beds. When taken in his mouth, the secretion of saliva was imme- 

 diately increased, and his jaws became covered with foam ; he evidently 

 felt pain and annoyance, at the same time would not discontinue his 

 practice of carrying them. Mr. Herbert, in a note to Bennet's edition, 

 page 323, says : " If a hungry pike seizes one, (a toad,) he disgorges 



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