7758 Birds. 



in the sand, in the form of a truncated cone. Gradually the borders of this hole were 

 heightened by accumulations of more sand. At this labour the male and female 

 bird worked alternately. A few hours after the completion of the nest laying began, 

 and was continueil every alternate day, until, by the 20th of April, fifteen eggs had 

 been deposited. Up to this time the hen guarded the nest a few hours before and 

 after incubation, sometimes for a whole day. After April 20, however, the male bird 

 commenced taking his spell of watching, the lady only seeing to tlie household during 

 periods when her lord and master was temporarily absent from home. All see:ned to 

 go on satisfactorily. According to observations made l)y M. Hardy, at Algiers, the 

 time of incubation should be from fifty to sixty days. Knowing this, M. Suquet was 

 surprised when, on June .3, intelligence came that the first young ostrich had opened 

 its eyes to sunshine on French soil. By the evening eleven had been hatched. On 

 the day following the young birds kft the nest, and began to wander over their 

 enclosure, guided alternately by papa and mama, who spared no trouble in this their 

 first walking lesson. During these excursions one bird always lingered a little behind. 

 It was weak and soon died, thus reducing the number of the family to ten. They 

 went on growing rapidly, so that, by the 8th of this month (August) they were as big 

 as young turkeys, giving every promise of arriving in due time at years of discretion, 

 and contributing for many a season to the grande tenue of many a fair Parisienne. — 

 ' Field ' Neirspaper. 



Luminous Feathers on the Breast of the Canadian Blue Heron. — On the breast of 

 the great blue heron, covered by the long }dumage of the neck, is a tuft of soft tumid 

 feathers, which, when exposed in the dark, emit a pale phosphorescent light. The use 

 of this does not yet appear to be fully understood, though the fishermen 'aver that 

 when the heron retires at ui<;ht to his feeding-ground he wades knee-deep in the 

 water, and showing this light attracts the fish within his reach, much in the same way 

 as the Indian does when fixing the torch of pilch-pine on the bow of his canoe. — 

 — I'homas M^Ilwrailh, in ' Canadian Naturalist.' 



Note on the Arctic S/cua (Lestris parasiticus). — There appears to be some obscurity 

 about the species of this genus. Some years since I corresponded with Mr. Yarrell 

 in reference to a small species of Lestris which I obtained in the slate of plumage 

 generally recognized as the adult, viz., with the under parts nearly white, with patches 

 of pale yellow on the breast. It was a much smaller bird than the common Richard- 

 son's Lestris, and with the important character of having the two middle tail-feathers 

 elongated to the extent of six inches, which I believe is never the case wiih L. 

 Eichardsonii, the elongation in that species being only two or two and a half inches. 

 Mr. Yarrell, however, would not yield his opinion as to my bird being L. Richard- 

 sonii, because, as he said, the two long tail-feathers ^r«fZ«a<erf and tapeied from their 

 bases to their points,— a character, he added, never observed in the smaller species, 

 those feathers always appearing to be of the same uniform width from the base to the 

 point. I mention this meiely as suggestive of there being another and smaller spe- 

 cies illustrative of Mr. YarreU's doctrine, and which maybe the true Arctic jaguer. 

 What I am more particularly coming to at present is that there appears to be a great 

 probability that this light-coloured character of plumage is the summer plumage of 

 the adult birds. I have examined a specimen to-day in Mr. Vingoe's possession, which 

 was sent in from the Land's End, exactly resembling my small bird referred to in size, 

 and with the under parts nearly while; but ihe bird is in active moult, and all the 

 new feathers in the breast, which are partly on the surface of the plumage and others 



