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Mr. R. Philupps,



I may mention in this connection that when two males

fight—usually it is a case of the stronger attacking the weaker—

they may be found lying on their sides on the ground face to face,

each with his two feet firmly interlocked in those of his antagon¬

ist. On these occasions it is easy to catch one or even both of

them. Last November I used to find the pursuing male and the

hesitating (because of the cold) female in the same position, feet

clasped in feet, but of course without the vindictive griping of

the feet and the horrible braying cry (something between those

of a stag and a hare) of the weaker bird.


The following points of difference between the young bird

and No. 3 may be pointed out. Nostrils :—For a long time those

of the young bird were covered and hidden, but now they are

moderately exposed ; No. 3 (and adults of both sexes) “ linear,

pervious, exposed.” hides: —Nestling, black with bluish tinge

—they are still either black or very dark ; No. 3 (and the quite

brown birds as a general rule), “ dark brown.” Under tail-coverts

and flanks :—Young bird, white or nearly so; No. 3, “light

brown strongly barred with dark brown.” These bars are very

apparent on the adult female, and by November were moderately

clear on the young bird.


When the young bird flew close up to me on November 7,

what especially attracted my attention was the beauty of the

markings on the other feathers of face, forehead, cheeks, ear-

coverts, nape, &c. Each tiny feather had the minutest speck of

dusky at the tip, and nearly each set of feathers had its own

particular lie and its own particular kind of speck, so that each

part differed from its fellows—they might have been so many

Lilliputian flower-beds, each with its own peculiar bloom. The

more closely we look into and examine the plumage of some of

these simple brown birds, the more exquisitely beautiful do we

find them to be.



January 8.—The illustration of the adult male which

appeared in the December number gives one the impression that

the Regent, when carrying a stick, holds it at one end ; the sticks

are invariably held about the centre.



