9792 Birds, 



known to visit this country in the winter? I suggested to my informant that it might 

 probably have been a variety of either the thrush or blackbird ; biii, as he was pretty 

 well acquaiiiled with birds, he seemed peifeclly s;ilis(ied it was not: it was a new 

 species to him ; he had never seen one like it before. — T. E. Gunn ; Norwich. 



Cuckoo swullowiiiy Cord. — In dissecting an example of the cuckoo, a few days 

 since, 1 was surprised to tir.d in its gizzard, in addition to its usual lood, a piece of 

 knotted cord of medium size and about four inches in length. It was doubtless 

 swallowed, in mistake, for a crushed and disfigured larva, to which it bore some resem- 

 blance. — Id.; August 14, 18t!5. 



Cuckoo in Confinement. — In the ' Zoologist' for 1864 I recorded an instance of the 

 cuckoo being kept in eon (inement throughout the winter by a person residing in this city 

 (Zool. 902-1). 1 Lave lately had an opportunity of seeing Mr. Dew, the person referred 

 to, who informed me of its death ; he himself had the misfortune to be confined to his 

 bed through illness, and being unable to attend to the wants of his pel as usual, he 

 left it to the care of others, who neglected it, so that it died at the commencement of 

 October, 1864 ; it thus remained alive in his jiossessiun just eighteen months. Since 

 the publication of my previous note, I Lave seen remarks from a correspondent to 

 another journal, in which he expresses himself disposed to doubt the statement some- 

 times made of the cuckoo passing the winter with us: it appears he himself and 

 several of his friends have made several unsuccessful attempts to rear this bird through 

 the winter, which of course is no reason why another enterprising rearer should not 

 succeed in attaining his object. The truth of the above and subsequent statement may 

 be implicitly relied on ; the facts can be vouched for by several respectable inhabitants 

 of this city, who, like myself, had opportunities of observing this peculiar pet while in 

 Mr. Dew's possession.— /(/. ; Seplernber, I860. 



Curious Malformation of a Young Pheasant and a Bantam. — During the month 

 of June last a very curious specimen of a young pheasant was brought to me for pre- 

 servation. Instead of its eyes being placed in their usual position, it was peculiarly 

 disfigured by having a double one in the centre of Jls forehead, covering the place 

 where the upper n)andil)le of its bill should be fixed, of which it was minus. A day or 

 two afterwards I saw another malformed curiosity: in this instance it being a young 

 bantam, the upper mandible of the bill of which curved downwards to the left, the 

 lower mandible projecting out straight : it had only one eye, which was situated near 

 the base of ihie bill at the right side ; it was also minus one wing. From the appear- 

 ance of its head and body, which appeared partly double, it had doubtless been 

 hatched from a double-yolked egg, which are not of uncommon occurrence in this 

 neighbourhood. — Id. 



Young of the Domestic Fowl hatched hy the Partridge. — Your note (Zool. 9732) on 

 " Eggs of Pheasant and Partridge in the same Nest" reminded me of two instances, 

 which I recorded in my own memoranda as occurring here last year. As your editorial 

 note remarks, cases of pheasants' eggs in partridges' nests are very common ; and, I 

 may add, others, in which the French partridge lays in the common partridge's nest, 

 are not unusual ; but last year, in a field separated only by the road and a very narrow 

 slip of lan<l from this house, a pair of partridges had a chicken, or, as named here, a 

 "young heu-bird," in company with their own proper young, and when disturbed, as 

 they were on two occasions in one day by my neighbour, the owner and occupier of the 

 land in question, they were as careful and fussy over their big, awkward, helpless, 

 chirping fosterling as over their own young; in reality, more so, for, hearing its cry, 



