The Zoologist — April, 1867. 707 



not get nearer. The guu " snapped," and the bird flew off into the woods. Have you 

 ever seen or heard of a magpie with a yellow beak before? — John A. Harvie Broion ; 

 Dunipace House, Falkirk, March 6, 1867. [Certainly not ; and I can offer no opinion 

 in the present instance. — E, A 7 .] 



Curious Abnormal Growth of Feathers in a Woodpecker's Tail. — I have an adult 

 male specimen of the green woodpecker in my possession, killed in January last in this 

 neighbourhood : its tail contains the usual number of feathers, viz. twelve, all in per- 

 fect condition ; between the centre ones two curious abnormal shafts issue, raising 

 themselves above the surface of the others, and curving over the right side: they are 

 quite strong and stiff, and from the ends of each several fibres branch off: each shaft 

 measures one inch and seven-eighths in length. — T. E. Gunn; 3, West Potlergate, 

 Norwich. 



Breeding of the Kingfisher. — I do not find in any book of birds in my possession 

 any reference to the time of year at which the kingfisher begins to breed, and as I have 

 been surprised at its early date I send you the following record. The kingfisher has 

 bred here every year of my residence, and until I had a sand-bank cut in forming an 

 island in the lake for ducks to breed upon, it managed (very uncomfortably, I should 

 think) to breed amongst the roots of an alder. This year it first made its appearance 

 on the 20th of February, when it cleared cut its hole, and is now, I have little doubt, 

 sitting upon its eggs. It must I think have three broods in a year. It was here last 

 year for six months, and seemed to be employed the whole time, and daily, passing to 

 and fro. The young birds have very little notion of self-preservation. Out of a brood 

 last year one killed itself against my drawing-room window, and a second flew into a 

 neighbour's house. — W. C. Hewilson ; Oatlands, March 4, 1867. 



Toad Stones and Eagle Stones. — Anent the quotation from 'Evangeline' (Zool. 

 S. S. 561) respecting swallow stones, may I be allowed to place the following observa- 

 tions on toad stones and eagle stones from Brand's 'Popular Antiquities.' Pennant, in 

 his ' Zoology,' as quoted by Brand, says, " It (the toad) was believed by some old 

 writers to have a stone in its head, fraught with great virtues, medical and magical. 

 It was distinguished by the name of the reptile, and called the toad-stone, Bufonites, 

 Crapaudino, Krottenslein ; but all its fancied powers vanished on the discovery of its 

 being nothing but the fossil tooth of the sea-wolf, or some other flat-toothed fish, not 

 un frequent in our island, as well as several other countries." The editor of 'Popular 

 Auliquilies,' pursuing the subject further, has added two interesting notes from the 

 same author, Pennant :—" Those and the other grinding teeth (alluding to the teeth 

 of the wolf-fish) are often found fossil, and in that state called Bufonites, or load- 

 stones: they were formerly much esteemed for their imaginary virtues, and were set in 

 gold and worn as rings" ('Zoology,' vol. ii. p. 154). " The ancients believed that the 

 pebble commonly called the aHites, or eagle-stone, was found in the eagle's nest, and 

 that the eggs could not be hatched without its assistance " (Ibid., vol. i. p. 167). For 

 further information consult Brand's work.— George Roberts; Lofthouse, Wakefield, 

 February 16, 1867. [I think I recollect more than one passage in Shakespeare bearing 

 on ibis subject; but I leave Mr. Halting, who is so skilled in Shakespearian lore, to 

 investigate ibis. — E. Newman] 



The Willow Grouse and Red Grouse. — After a perusal of what has appeared at 

 various times in the ' Zoologist' upon the supposed specific identity of the willow grouse 

 of Norway and the red grouse of the British islands, I still believe that Teuiininck was 



