4874 THE ZooLoGist—APRIL, 1876. 
do so. I am not quite certain that they take the hive-bees, though they are 
always accused of so doing. I fancy the dead bees, which are so often at 
the mouths of the hives at this season of the year, first attract them, and 
when they have got all they can reach I have known them to peck a large 
hole into an old straw hive to try and get more: perhaps this disturbance 
at the entrance of a hive brings some of the half-torpid bees out to see what 
is the matter, and Parus major, likely enough, improves the occasion by 
devouring them. ‘This tit seems more insectivorous than the tomtit (Parus 
c@ruleus), which does not, so far as I have seen, after many years of obser- 
vation, indulge in this habit.—’. Boyes. 
Waxwings without Wax (Zool. 8.8. 4723)—The few British-killed wax- 
wings which I have seen all possessed the wax-like appendages to the wings ; 
but last year I had the pleasure of inspecting a number of bird-skins 
from North America, amongst which were several of our rarer or reputed 
British species, as the goldenwinged woodpecker, redwinged starling, belted 
kingfisher, &c., and amongst them were seven or eight of the waxwing, 
and its near ally, the cedar bird: EF noticed that only two of the number 
possessed the appendages in question, but whether these were waxwings or 
cedar-birds I did not notice, but most of those lacking the decoration were 
undoubtedly the latter species, as the under parts of the plumage were 
yellowish and the wings unbarred with white, which, in my ignorance, I had 
attributed to the skins being those of females. This note must be taken 
for what it is worth, as I had but a casual look at the skins, and now I 
write from memory.—G. B. Corbin. 
Grayheaded Wagtails—Mr. Hancock's letter (S. S. 4834) is so sensible 
and temperate that anyone must feel disarmed in any further attempts at 
criticism. What both he and I wish for is not to enter into any recrimination 
against one another, but by honest investigation to arrive at the truth. 
I may say that I have always been accustomed to look upon him as such a 
practical out-of-doors naturalist, that it was with not a little diffidence that 
I ventured to oppose my views against his in the matter of the wagtails, and 
now I am willing to withdraw my opinion if I am convinced by his series of 
specimens that I am wrong.—J. H. Gurney, jun.; March 3, 1876. 
Note on the Plumage of the Yellowhammer.—Of our common yellow- 
hammer Mr. Yarrell writes, ‘The bright yellow colour in very old males is 
extended over a larger surface” than in young males (‘ British Birds,’ 1st 
ed., vol. i., p. 447). Whether this is true or not, everybody knows how 
much variableness there is of yellow in this bird. Sometimes one sees 
an example which instantly attracts attention by its unusual brightness, 
whether on a hedgerow, in a cage, or in a collection of stuffed birds. I find 
that birdcatchers very neatly clip off the tips of the feathers about the 
head, &e., to produce this appearance. On closely scrutinising two or 
three very bright specimens I distinctly made out that they had been so 
