The Zoologist— Novembkr, 1866. 487 



that of the great tit, although much louder. Like the last-named bird, 

 its note varies at different seasons of the year; that which is uttered in 

 the breeding season being very different to that which is heard at other 

 times. I believe that nuthatches pair for life, and remain in pairs 

 throughout the year, not Hocking in winter like other birds, for I have 

 never observed the young following their parents in the autumn, as is 

 the case with some species; from which I infer that, as soon as they 

 are out of the nest, the old birds leave them to shift for themselves. 



"The nest is a difficult one to find, secreted as it always is in the 

 hole of a tree. On the 10th May, 1863, I obtained ten beautifully 

 marked eggs of this species from an old tree at Harrow Weald. 



" A few years ago this bird was comparatively common in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Ealing, especially in autumn, when it might frequently 

 have been heard and occasionally seen running up and down the elm- 

 trees, hammering at the bark, and uttering at intervals its not 

 unpleasing note. Of late years it has become much more rare. Mr. 

 Power observed a particular bird of this species at Ealing, which was 

 in the habit of carrying off the acorns from an evergreen oak, but what 

 he did with them he was never able to ascertain. I have seen a 

 nuthatch constantly on a certain gale-post thai had a fissure in the lop, 

 on which it used to fix acorns and beech-mast, and then hammer at 

 them and extract the kernels." — pp. 117-18. 



The curious idea that we have two species of cuckoo is alluded to, 

 but, as I consider, very properly dismissed in a few words. I have 

 been so often appealed to on this subject, that I desire to say I fully 

 coincide with Mr. Harting's view. Still I am quite willing to admit 

 that the arrival of a cuckoo in May, clothed in the beautifully barred 

 brown plumage of the young, is a subject that merits the most rigid 

 investigation. 



Cuckoo. — " The adidt brown cuckoo is thought by some to be a dis- 

 tinct species, and has been figined and described under the name of 

 Cuculus hepaticus ; but I think there can be little doubt that it is 

 only a variety." — p. 120. 



Under the kingfisher we have some more interesting observations, 

 both copied and original. 



Kinffjisher. — " Resident throughout the year, although many leave 

 us at the approach of winter. A few pairs breed on the banks of the 

 Brent and Silk stream, and also along the Thames and Colne. King- 

 fishers always appear most numerous in autumn, and naturally so, for 

 the young are then flyers, and may be found at all our brooks. 



