86 PONDS, 'PADDOCKS, AND AVIARIES 



young were about half-grown, and the old bird came 

 at him from behind and knocked his hat off. I may 

 mention that we have a home-bred family of these little 

 owls just now able to fly in our deer-park. 



" One of my Ural owls (S. uralense] laid an egg this 

 spring, but did not seem disposed to sit, so we put the 

 egg into a nest of barn owl, containing five of the 

 owner's eggs, but the Ural has, I am sorry to say, 

 ' gone scatt,' as they say in Devon. 



" I have a bittern in the aviaries sitting upon three 



eggs- 



" We have a return of almost overpowering, breeze- 

 less heat; no pleasure out of doors after 6 a.m. or before 

 5.30 p.m." 1 



"June ^ot/i, 1894. 



" The most interesting addition to my live stock of 

 late is a fine, healthy Hyrax capensis, first cousin to 

 H. syriacus, the coney of Scripture, of Lev. xi. 5, 

 Deut. xiv. 7, Psalm civ. 18, and Proverbs xxx. 26. The 

 nearest ally of this small, rock-dwelling genus is the 

 rhinoceros." 2 



" November i$th, 1866. 



a I have a very fine specimen of Falco norvegicus 

 alive ; he was brought from Norway last year, and has 

 moulted out very clean and fine ; it is the first of its 

 species that I ever saw alive, and is most decidedly a 



1 To the Editor. 



2 To the Rev. Murray Matthew. 



