Co 77 espondence.



343



feathers on the head is one of the most handsome of the Quails.

The hen laid ten eggs in a nest in the thick grass, approached

through a tunnel under the grass. She was apparently acci¬

dentally disturbed and refused to sit, so the eggs were taken and

hatched in an incubator, The chicks which were if anything

less in size than those of Californian Quails, were placed in a

“ Hearson’s Foster Mother,” and six of them have been success¬

fully reared to maturity, a feat deserving of great praise on the

part of MacDonald, the keeper who was entrusted with their care.

The same foster-mother now contains fifteen other young Quails

hatched from eggs laid by Colinus pec/oralis and Eupsychortyx

nigrigularis , both very rare American species. The young birds

are about half-grown and in first-rate health and condition.

Quails so often lay numbers of eggs, but refuse to sit in captivity,

and the question of the hatching and rearing of the chicks is often

a puzzling one. Hens are altogether too large for such frail mites,

and the most careful ones rarely rear more than a small per¬

centage of those hatched. It is, therefore, very satisfactory to

find that the eggs hatch perfectly in an incubator at the same

temperature as hen’s eggs (104° Fahr.) and that with care the

young can be reared in a “foster-mother.” D. S.-S.



THE SOCIETY’S MEDAL.


A medal has been awarded to Mr. W. F. Tescliemaker for

breeding the Black Redstart (. Ruticilla titys), an account of

which appeared in the September number.


We regret that by inadvertence a medal was awarded to

Mr. Cosgrave for breeding the Laughing Kingfisher (. Dacelo

gigas ) see p. 125. Although Mr. Cosgrave earned the medal, it

cannot be awarded as he is not a member.



CORRESPONDENCE, NOTES, ETC.


NIL TA VA CYA NO MELLEN A ?


Sir,—W hen Mr. Goodfellow brought over the Mikado Pheasants for

Mr. and Mrs. Johnstone, he also brought a beautiful Niltava from Southern

China, which has come into my possession. Is it N. cyanomelcenci ? The



