APRIL, 1883. 295 



having been shot upon the top of it, and their bones left 

 to bleach where they died. The following year no nest 

 was built by any of these birds on the island, but now 

 they have returned to this particular corner, which 

 appeals to their intelligence or instinct (?) as more 

 especially suited for them. Now that the male has been 

 destroyed and removed, we do not doubt that after the 

 manner of their kind the female will obtain another mate 

 directly and without loss of time. This is another fact 

 that to our mind is quite unaccountable! A place 

 becomes noted as a resort of a particular pair of birds> 

 and these birds are captured or destroyed ; by another 

 season at the furthest, another pair of the same species 

 of birds has come and taken the vacant stance, just as a 

 young medical in a busy town would pounce upon the 

 dwelling of a removing or departing successful practitioner. 

 Do they look upon the vicinity as supplying a con- 

 stituency, and hasten to keep up the necessary calls? 

 "Howsoe'er these things may be," they never permit a 

 favourable position to remain long vacant. Then, let 

 any one of a pair be shot, and within a few days it is 

 supplied with a mate. Neither ravens nor peregrine 

 falcons are plentiful birds now-a-days, and, indeed, we 

 should call both very scarce in most places, and yet 

 neither seem to have the least difficulty in obtaining a 

 comrade and replacing a departed mate. Whence do 

 they come, and where do they put up in the meantime ? 

 Perhaps some correspondent can suggest where there 

 may be an " Ornithological Matrimonial Arrangement 

 Agency," where sudden bereavement is promptly and 

 suitably solaced. 



These birds have got well on with their domestic 

 arrangements, and are now sitting very closely. During 



