Birds. 2799 



on the extrication of the one from its difficult situation ? — William H. Cordeaux ; 

 Canterbury, February 18, 1850. 



Occurrence of the Waxwing near Coventry. — I have in my possession a specimen 

 of the Bohemian waxwing, which was shot in November last, on the high road 

 between Coventry and Kenilworth, in this county (Warwick). — Francis H. Amherst ; 

 St. Mary's, Oscott, March 4, 1850. 



Occurrence of the Waxwing near Horsham. — As the Bohemian waxwing has ap- 

 peared in unusual numbers this winter, I send you the following notices of its occur- 

 rence in this neighbourhood. On the 12th of January an adult male was shot, 

 whilst feeding on some hawthorn-berries, in the parish of West Grinstead ; and on 

 the 17th of the same month, another was obtained at Horsham : both are beautiful 

 specimens. The sex of the latter was not ascertained ; it has considerably less black 

 on the throat than the former, but the yellow on the quills and tail is much more bril- 

 liant ; the stomach contained nothing but haws. — W. Borrer, Jun.; Cowford, Hors- 

 ham, Sussex, March 24, 1850. • 



Occurrence of the Waxiving in Oxfordshire. — During the late influx of this spe- 

 cies, one specimen only has been killed in Oxfordshire. — A. Matthews ; Weston-on- 

 the-Green, March 29, 1850. 



Occurrence of the Waxwing in Lincolnshire. — Four specimens of the waxwing were 

 shot in the neighbourhood of Lincoln, towards the end of last January. About the 

 same time several others were obtained near Boston. — H.Matthews; Waddington, 

 April 2, 1850. 



Ferocity of the Magpie (Pica caudata). — Mr. George Leigh Wasey, writing to a 

 contemporary says, " As I was travelling yesterday between Andover and the railway 

 station, I noticed on the road a magpie struggling with some animal ; on the approach 

 of the coach it took flight, bearing away its prize to about sixty yards across a field 

 when it dropped it, and on my brother getting off to see what it was, he found it to 

 be a full-grown redwing : the magpie had pecked its eyes out to prevent its escape, 

 and would soon have killed it if we had not so unceremoniously deprived him of a din- 

 ner. I believe it is not generally known that magpies ever prey upon living birds, es- 

 pecially birds of such magnitude and weight as a redwing. No doubt it was hard 

 pressed by hunger and the inclemency of the season ; but it is a fact worthy of the at- 

 tention of ornithologists, and if you think fit to take notice of the circumstance, I will 

 vouch for its truth." Mr. Wasey is certainly wrong in imagining (as I presume he 

 does) that magpies never prey upon living birds, for I believe it is pretty generally 

 known, and that to the cost of the housewife, the farmer, and the sportsman, that at a 

 certain period of the year, the breeding season, they commit great destruction among 

 not only the young of feathered game, ducks, and other poultry, but also among the 

 full-grown smaller sorts of birds which they kill, to serve as food for their young, and 

 perhaps as well as to satisfy their own voracious appetite ; but I never heard that this 

 propensity to prey upon living birds existed, and of course, as far as young game, &c. 

 are concerned, it cannot exist at other times. It is very likely, however, that magpies 

 would never refuse so dainty a morsel as a redwing, but I should think the redwing in 

 question must have been previously wounded or injured in some way, as I do not 

 think that with all his carnivorous habits, the magpie is of a sufficiently predatory na- 

 ture to pursue to the death a strong and healthy bird, nay, would have no chance of 

 catching such a bird as a redwing in a fair race, the powers of flight of that bird, both 

 for swiftness and duration, being much greater than its own. I may, perhaps, 



