2852 Birds. 



a Naturalist,' neither of the preceding are enumerated.— W. H. Curdeaux ; Canter- 

 bury, June 7, 1850. 



The Madagascar Grosbeak (Loxia Madagascariensis) breeding in an Aviary. — I 

 take the liberty of forwarding to you a note of the Madagascar grosbeak (Loxia Ma- 

 dagascariensis) breeding in confinement in this country : I believe this to be of rare 

 occurrence, as I am not aware of another instance yet recorded. Should you deem 

 this worthy of notice in the ' Zoologist,' I beg to place it at your disposal for that 

 purpose. This pair of birds, which have been for the last year in an aviary in our 

 greenhouse, with sixty or seventy other foreign and British birds, commenced build- 

 ing about the end of April; and by the 1st of May they had completed their nest. 

 This was entirely composed of hay and horse-hair beautifully woven ; in shape oval, 

 covered at the top, with the entrance on the side, not unlike the nest of our long-tailed 

 tit. On the 6th of May it contained four white eggs, very similar to those of the 

 house martin. On the 19th of May two young ones were hatched, and on the 30th of 

 May they finally left the nest. Since then they have been fed very diligently by the 

 female alone, and are now both fine birds. I think one is a male and the other a 

 female, though their plumage is the same in both as that of the adult female. To- 

 day, I see, the old pair are repairing the nest as if for a second brood. — J. G. 

 Leeming ; the Adelphi, Salford, Manchester, June 13, 1850. 



Note on the Californian Quail. — I beg to forward the following extract from the 

 private journal of a naval officer, a friend of mine, concerning the Californian quail, 

 which may not prove uninteresting to some of the readers of the ' Zoologist.' — " In 

 the year 184 — , shortly after the Americans took possession of California, I happened 



to be there in H.M.S. . Having heard so much of the abundance of quail 



within a short distance of Monliero, and the beautiful plumage of this bird, which I 

 must confess surpasses that of any other of the species, I started forth about 9 A. m. 

 for the purpose of procuring specimens of this bird. A thick fog coming on, I was 

 completely enveloped in mist for nearly three hours ; about noon the sun began to 

 pour forth its rays through the thick foliage of the pine trees, many of which grow to 

 the height of 80 or 90 feet, without a branch. To my astonishment on passing 

 through some low brushwood, up got, close under my feet, no less than eight or nine 

 of these birds ; I fired and killed one, which proved to be a male bird having a crest 

 of three or four feathers on its head. In the course of a couple of hours I killed six. 

 Being somewhat tired I sat down on a stone and commenced smoking a cigar ; I had 

 not been seated many minutes before I heard a rustling in the brushwood behind me ; 

 I started up, with my gun in hand, intending of course to lay the marauder low, when 

 judge my surprise on beholding, instead of a wild beast, an Indian boy, certainly not 

 more than eleven years of age, creeping stealthily along, armed with bow and arrow, 

 in search of quail, as they ran uuder the bushes for protection. No less than four or 

 five fell by the skilful hand of the young Californian. I was so delighted with his 

 performance that 1 tried to entice him to come near me, but as yet he was unaccus- 

 tomed to the face of the white man, and instead of obeying my summons darted into 

 the brushwood and was soon lost to my sight."— .7. M. Jones ; Montgomery, North 

 Wales, May 10, 1850. 



Occurrence of the Black Grouse (Tetrao tetrix) in Herefordshire. — A specimen 

 of the gray hen or female of the black grouse was killed towards the latter end 

 of March, in a wood belonging to J. Arkwright, Esq., of Hampton Court, Here- 



