Retrospective Cnticismj^x 449 



near the habitations of man in that county; and I am therefore not dji^r 

 posed, on one solitary fact, to alter my statement concerning that bird in 

 Omithologia. It is, as far as I am acquainted with it, a very shy bird. If 

 any additional confirmation were wanted of the scarcity of this bird in thq 

 neighbourhood of the Ravensbourne, I might mention, that to him who 

 delights in a very pleasant walk on the banks of the canal, from New Cross, 

 through Forest Hill Wood, to Sydenham, and thence to Penge Wood, a rich 

 treat is offered, particularly in the spring; when the nightingale and a 

 numerous et ccotera will gratify his taste ; but although here again I have 

 rambled at all hours of the day, early and late and at noon, I never saw 

 one solitary kingfisher, although the canal is not deficient in fish. Will 

 these statements satisfy J. R,, as they confirm mine, in my " little work ; " 

 a work, however, permit me to say, that, had it been printed in a larger 

 type, would have made a decent quarto? — James Jennings. 14. Goswell 

 jRoadjJanuar?/ 20. 1830. :.^j^ 



Claw of the Fern Owl. — I would beg leave to suggest to Mr. DU],hn^ 

 (p. 31.) that the singular claw of the fern owl is formed for the purpose, pf"^ 

 detaching the sharp hooked claws of the beetles or chafers which are occa- 

 sionally affixed to the sides of the mouth, and must impede the bird's sw^^j 

 lowing them. — J. Hayward. February 11. 1830. , ^j 



I'Po^vers of Smell asonbed to the Vulture. — Sir, As it has repeatedly be^| 

 remarked, in the annals of science, that the most splendid discoveries at^ 

 most ingenious inventions have been attributed to wrong individuals, , J 

 take* the liberty of humbly, observing, that the extracts inserted in the tenth 

 Number of your admirable Journal, relative to the power of smell so 

 ^nerally ascribed to the vulture tribe^ are not original. To your talent^^i 

 correspondent, Mr. Audubon of Louisiana, whose Shakspearean notes qfl,, 

 the Falco Washingtomana have already made him known to so many of 

 your reader«y is due the honour of having first exposed the fallacy of those 

 views, in an interesting treatise, in the third number of Jameson'' s Journal^ 

 entitled, " An Account of the habits of the Tui'key Buzzard, Tultur Aura 

 Lin.y with the view of exploding the opinion generally entertained of its 

 extraordinary power of smelling;" on an attentive perusal of which, no one, 

 in my humble opinion, can for a moment hesitate in crediting his assertion, 

 that the vulture is not, and never was, in the enjoyment of any extraordi- 

 nary olfactory power. — Perceval Hunter. WalthamstoWy March 19. 



A Female Sparrowhawk with a blue Back. — Sur, In the Magazine of 

 Natural History (Vol. I. p. 220.), your correspondent T. F. says he has ' 

 never seen a female sparrowhawk with a blue back, like the adult male : I 

 have seen two the last year (1829); one shot in October, the other in 

 November, by myself, in the act of pursuing a wounded fieldfare, and it is 

 now in my possession stuffed. — F, B. Kingsbury ^ February ^ 1830. , 



• 'df%e Smpe's Beak, -r- Sir, I observe your correspondent, S. T. P. (p. 29.), 

 speaks of the snipe's beak as being formed for boring. I know the notioin,, 

 is very generally entertained that the woodcock and the snipe obtain their 

 food by boring for it in soft earth ; but this, I think, is mere conjecture, and 

 not well founded. If these birds obtained their food in this manner, their 

 bills must necessarily carry the marks of the mud, at the depth to which 

 the bill has penetrated, and this I never could find. But being desirous of 

 ascertaining the fact, I once took an opportunity of watching six or seven 

 snipes at the foot of a little rill of water, in a meadow, during a hard frost, 

 for fifteen or twenty minutes, through a glass, and they appeared to watch 

 for their food, like the heron, and to take it by dashing their bills very 

 quick into the water, which they also drew back again with great quick- 

 ness, shifting their ground a little, occasionally. No doubt their food 

 consists chiefly of animalcula, which they see moving in the water or oj\ 

 the wet surface. I once also had two young woodcocks, not half gi'.Qwn, 

 which; fwere -caught by a cow4)cty-4jri a; hiH,= where there w^ ho wat?er^„a«d 



