300 ; THE ZOOLOGIST. 
opening by which the birds entered ; the nest was begun at the opposite 
end, Every morning regularly, for over three weeks, the blind was let 
down the first thing in the morning, and just as regularly the commence- 
ment of the nest fell to the ground; the two Sparrows watched from the 
top of the next house nearly the whole of each day, and the moment the 
blind was pulled up, down~they came and began to replace the rubbish in 
the same place. I tried burying the nest when it fell, but the only result 
was that, the birds having farther to go for material, the nest was not 
quite so far advanced on the succeeding morning. Owing to the excessive 
rains during the past week the blind was not pulled down as usual for 
three days, and the birds went on building; the fall of the nest on the 
fourth day, when the sun reappeared, seems at last to have disheartened 
them, and they appear to have discontinued their senseless labours. Are 
we to look upon this case in the light of a lesson on perseverance in the 
midst of disappointment, or as evidence of singular absence of reflection 
on the part of the Sparrows? If the former, it is as instructive in its 
way as the story of Bruce’s spider ; if the latter, it shows us that Passerine 
intellect is by no means so much developed as some people have imagined 
it to be—ArrHuR G. Butter (10, Avington Grove, Penge). 
Burron’s SkvuA oN tH Cornish Coast.—A very nice adult-plumaged 
bird of this species was sent to Mr. Vingoe for preservation on the 4th 
June. It had been recently shot near the Lizard—I should think on the 
morning of the day of its transmission. The middle tail-feathers exceed 
the lateral ones by just six inches, but the primrose-yellow on the sides of 
the neck is (as it always has been in specimens under my notice) far paler 
and less diffused than is represented in illustrations, especially that in 
‘The Birds of Great Britain.’ The colour of the legs is a marked 
character in this species—the tarsi are slaty blue, thighs and feet jet black, 
while on the inner side of the tarsus a narrow shoot of black extends 
upwards an inch from the feet—Kpwarp Hrarte Roop (Penzance). 
CanaDA GEESE NEAR DunkeLp.—Four Canada Geese (A. canadensis) 
made their appearance on Butterstone Loch in this neighbourhood towards 
the end of April. They remained on the loch four days, during which 
time they were in a restless state, constantly flying backwards and forwards 
uttering their loud trumpeting cry. They did not strike me as being so 
shy or wary as the other species of Wild Geese, venturing much more 
boldly near the shores of some small wooded islands than their more 
cautious relatives would have done; they were, however, wide awake, and 
very easily disturbed on the slightest sign of danger.—A. B. Brooke 
(Cardney, Dunkeld). 
YounG Cuckoo 1n THe Nest or a Sona Turuso.—lIn June last year 
Icame across a nest of a Song Thrush, in which was a young Cuckoo 
nearly full-fledged. It had apparently been unable to get rid of the young 
