340 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
parts, the skin of the bill and legs—and here we have a never-absent sign 
of a bird which has been for any length of time deprived of its freedom ; 
and if none of these could be pointed out in the captured specimen, 
I should then, in spite of one having been known to have strayed from 
an aviary somewhere at hand, feel as much entitled to my assumption that 
this bird, which showed no traces of its captivity, must be another, and not 
the escaped one, as an objector would be justified in claiming it as the 
missing bird. I see that Mr. Dresser, after mentioning two examples of 
the Purple Gallinule which had been obtained in the North of England, 
adds that these were probably escapes, and his decision justly carries great 
weight; but Mr. Gray, who was fortunate enough to handle, in the flesh, 
one which had been shot in Argyleshire, could find on the bird no signs 
that it had ever been subjected to confinement. Bearing in mind that 
these birds are migratory, and that the mouth of the Rhone or the coast of 
Portugal is at no great distance from this country for a bird when fairly on 
wing, Porphyrio veterum might justly object to be refused a place among 
the list of our chance visitors, which includes many other birds even less 
likely than this to wander to our coasts.—Murray A. Maruew ( Bishop's 
Lydeard, Taunton). 
Tux Micratron or Brrps.—I have read the remarks of Mr. Cordeaux 
in ‘The Zoologist’ for May (p. 205), on the subject of migration, and am 
almost tempted to reply. I cannot afford the time, however, even if you 
would grant me the space. I will only observe that there are apparently 
three classes of thinkers. First, those who believe in “ an intuitive instinct 
which almost seems like a sixth sense,” of which number Mr. Cordeaux is 
one. Secondly, those who vote avine migration—and with it, I suppose, 
all migration—to be a mystery. Thirdly, persons, of whom I am one, not 
able to understand ‘the sixth sense,” not finding any great mystery, but 
regarding avine migration as part of the general law of flux and reflux 
which is apparent in so many organisms, &c., in the orb in which we dwell, 
and which is one of the conditions of the Universe. 1 may remark, how- 
ever, that I do not go the full length attributed to me by Mr. Cordeaux, 
for to deny any instinct to animals would no doubt be “absurd.” I only 
say these few words for fear silence might be thought discourteous towards 
a gentleman who has worked at this subject for ‘‘ more than twenty years,” 
in fact, almost as long as I have-—GurorcE Dawson Rowxey (Chichester 
House, Brighton). 
Cugxoo’s Eee ix a Buracxsird’s Nest.—Whilst looking for Reed 
Warblers’ nests on the Thames this summer I found a Cuckoo's egg in a 
Blackbird’s nest, which was built in willows overhanging the river. A few 
yards further on I found another egg in a Reed Warbler’s nest, agreeing 
with the first in colour, &c., and evidently laid by the same bird. Although. 
this is not the first instance that has been known of a Cuckoo placing its 
