The Zoologist— March, 1869. 1601 



possession. The bird was, I believe, shot on the 15th of December, and was in good 

 condition.-F. Arber ; 40, Upper George Street, Bryanston Square, FF.- [Although 

 the partridge is generally considered to be very regular in its breeding habits, we have 

 known of several instances of its laying at this season of the year. In 1863 a perfect 

 egg was sent us from xNorfolk, taken from a partridge killed on January 4. A few 

 weeks later a correspondent sent us an account of a nest found near Gloucester, which 

 contained three partridges' eggs. And in the ' Field ' of February 8, 1868, Mr. Lloyd 

 records the fact of a yonug partridge being seen on February 4, in the act of clearing 

 Itself from the shell, while three other eggs remained in the nest; so thai these eggs 

 must have been laid very early in January. As a rule partridges do not begin lo lay 

 t.Jl the end of April or the beginning of May, and, having laid their full complement 

 01 eggs, begin to set about the last week in May.— ^rf. of ' Field.'] 



Creamcoloured Moor Hen.-A very interesting specimen of a creamcoloured moor 

 hen was recently caught at Russell Farm, near Watford, Rerts, by Mr W F M 

 Copeland who has had it preserved in a case with one of the ordinary black colour, so 

 that the difference of plumage is strongly shown. Mr. Copeland has kindly deposited 

 the birds at our office, where they may be seen by any one interested in these singular 

 variations.— ' i^JeW ' Newspaper. 



On the Variation in Colour of the Axillary Plume of the Golden 

 Plover. By John Cordeaux, Esq. 



In the February number of the ' Zoologist' (S. S. 1544) I remarked 

 that the colour of the axillary plume of the golden plover is not 

 always uniformly white, but is occasionally more or less edged 

 and broken with smoke-gray. In consequence of this remark, I have 

 since received, from Mr. J. E. Harting, an interesting communication 

 on this subject, which, with his permission, I now copy for the 

 benefit of the readers of the ' Zoologist.' I trust that other natu- 

 ralists will examine the question, and commimicate the result of 

 their observations. 



Mr. Harting writes as follows :— 



There are said to be four species of golden plover, namely, the 

 European (Charadrius pluvialis), which has also been found in 

 Africa;* the Asiatic (C. longipes); the American (C. virginicus) ; 

 and the Australian (C. orientalis), which is probably the bird found 

 m Japan. t 



* Hartl., Orn. W. Africa, p. 215. 

 t Teram. & Schleg., Faun. Jap., p. IQ^. 

 SECOND SERIES — VOL. IV. « 



