386 Miscellaneous, 



One Carolina parrot was frost-bitten in the hard winter of 1860, 

 and lost both her legs. She looked a deplorable object ever after ; 

 but a magnificent parrot took pity on her, and devoted himself to 

 her in a most chivalrous manner, defending her from the attacks of 

 other parrots who would have murdered her, cleaning her feathers, 

 and generally sitting close to her side. The contrast was most 

 ridiculous between the diseased old cripple and the splendid young 

 knight who had this infatuation for her. After some years, how- 

 ever, the cockatoos made a combined attack upon her, a tremendous 

 scrimmage took place, certainly not without the " din of battle," 

 and it ended in the slaughter of the poor old bird. 



They are very fond of the under gardener, who feeds them ; and 

 he is rarely to be seen at work out in the garden without one or two 

 cockatoos sitting on his head or shoulders. Their arrangement of 

 their hours is a very sensible one. Soon after dawn their voices may 

 be heard from a distant wood, in which most of them sleep. They 

 then come and wait for their breakfast ; but the midday hours are 

 always spent in sleep, after which they again seek for food, and come 

 for their supper ; but before they go to bed they, like rooks, devote 

 themselves to a regular jollification, the parrots often flying round at 

 a great height in circles, screaming with delight, while the cockatoos 

 fly from tree to tree with their crests erected, shrieking at the top 

 of their sweet voices, especially if they see people in the garden, 

 which always is a great amusement to them. I must confess that 

 some of them, if not all, are mischievous, especially in the way of 

 picking fruit ; but we think ourselves more than repaid by the 

 animation they give to the garden, and the exquisite beauty of their 

 colouring. 



Note on Dr. MacdonaWs Paper on the Dentition of Gasteropods. 

 By Dr. J. E. Gkat, F.K.S. 



I think that Dr. Macdonald has committed an error that is com- 

 mon to young naturalists — has mistaken an analogy for an afiinity. 

 The form of the lateral teeth of the odontophore is, no doubt, a good 

 specific (and may be generic) character ; but I think that Dr. Mac- 

 donald's table proves tbat it is not the character of a family. The 

 character of a family should be derived from the consideration of the 

 whole animal — its form, the form and development of the teeth, and 

 the form ofthe shell and operculum; and not from any one character, 

 such as the form of the lateral lingual teeth, especially if it brings 

 together in the same family such a series of incongruous genera 

 and separates nearly allied genera as they are separated in Dr. Mac- 

 donald's list. Therefore I cannot agree with him that " the lingual 

 dentition appears to be the only appeal," or that the best means for 

 arranging the genera and families is according to the form of the 

 lateral teeth. I think, if any one will consult Dr. Macdonald's plate, 

 he must perceive that the lateral teeth gradually pass from one form 

 to the other ; and I cannot conceive any reason why all the forms 

 figured may not belong to the genera of one family. 



