﻿314 
  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST. 
  

  

  care 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  Buntings, 
  but 
  these 
  birds, 
  although 
  largely 
  seed- 
  

   eaters, 
  feed 
  their 
  young 
  on 
  insects 
  and 
  grubs, 
  as 
  I 
  know 
  from 
  frequent 
  

   observation. 
  The 
  statement 
  is 
  made 
  that 
  in 
  this 
  case 
  the 
  young 
  

   Cuckoo 
  was 
  very 
  like 
  the 
  young 
  Twites, 
  but 
  with 
  a 
  larger 
  mouth. 
  

   Now, 
  as 
  the 
  Cuckoo's 
  egg 
  is 
  about 
  three 
  times 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  a 
  Twite's, 
  

   and 
  the 
  young 
  Cuckoo 
  grows 
  with 
  great 
  rapidity, 
  the 
  superior 
  size 
  of 
  

   the 
  latter 
  would 
  be 
  at 
  once 
  apparent. 
  The 
  suggestion 
  that 
  the 
  Cuckoo 
  

   could 
  have 
  devoured 
  the 
  flesh 
  of 
  its 
  own 
  young 
  one 
  is 
  improbable. 
  The 
  

   soft 
  bill 
  and 
  wide 
  gape 
  of 
  the 
  Cuckoo 
  are 
  adapted 
  for 
  capturing 
  the 
  

   large 
  insects 
  and 
  caterpillars 
  which 
  form 
  its 
  food, 
  and 
  which 
  the 
  bird 
  

   swallows 
  whole, 
  and 
  it 
  could 
  not 
  tear 
  the 
  flesh 
  from 
  the 
  bones 
  of 
  a 
  

   young 
  bird 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  leave 
  the 
  skeleton 
  bare, 
  even 
  if 
  it 
  had 
  the 
  will 
  to 
  

   do 
  so. 
  — 
  Allan 
  Ellison 
  (Watton-at- 
  Stone, 
  Herts). 
  

  

  [Mr. 
  Wilson's 
  observations 
  on 
  young 
  Cuckoos 
  being 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  

   nest 
  of 
  the 
  Twite, 
  which 
  acts 
  as 
  a 
  foster-parent, 
  have 
  now 
  been 
  continued 
  

   for 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  years, 
  and 
  detailed 
  in 
  these 
  pages. 
  He 
  has 
  also 
  raised 
  

   the 
  problem 
  of 
  suitable 
  food 
  referred 
  to 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Ellison, 
  supra; 
  cf. 
  Zool. 
  

   1897, 
  p. 
  365 
  ; 
  1898, 
  pp. 
  270, 
  359, 
  and 
  431 
  ; 
  1900, 
  p. 
  481 
  ; 
  and 
  1902, 
  

   p. 
  354. 
  He 
  has 
  also 
  frequently 
  expressed 
  the 
  opinion, 
  based 
  on 
  his 
  

   own 
  observations, 
  that 
  near 
  Aberdeen 
  the 
  Twite 
  is 
  the 
  most 
  usual 
  

   foster-parent 
  of 
  the 
  Cuckoo. 
  We 
  have 
  every 
  confidence 
  in 
  Mr. 
  Wilson's 
  

   observations. 
  — 
  Ed.] 
  

  

  The 
  Kite 
  in 
  Cheshire. 
  — 
  Although 
  tbe 
  Kite 
  (Milvus 
  ictinus) 
  nested 
  

   in 
  Cheshire 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  eighteenth 
  century, 
  as 
  we 
  learn 
  from 
  a 
  

   remark 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  Lord 
  Stanley 
  of 
  Alderley, 
  who 
  says, 
  when 
  describing 
  

   Alderley 
  Park 
  in 
  a 
  letter 
  written 
  in 
  1791, 
  "The 
  silence 
  that 
  reigns 
  

   there 
  is 
  only 
  broken 
  by 
  the 
  shrieks 
  of 
  the 
  large 
  Kites, 
  which 
  constantly 
  

   build 
  their 
  nests 
  in 
  the 
  neighbourhood, 
  and 
  the 
  calls 
  of 
  the 
  Teal 
  and 
  

   Wild 
  Duck 
  to 
  each 
  other 
  on 
  the 
  mere 
  " 
  (' 
  The 
  Early 
  Married 
  Life 
  of 
  

   Maria 
  Josepha 
  (Holroyd), 
  Lady 
  Stanley,' 
  p. 
  100), 
  the 
  visits 
  of 
  the 
  bird 
  

   to 
  the 
  county 
  had 
  become 
  infrequent 
  by 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  century. 
  

   It 
  is 
  therefore 
  worth 
  noticing 
  that 
  a 
  hitherto 
  unrecorded 
  specimen 
  of 
  a 
  

   Kite 
  killed 
  in 
  the 
  county 
  is 
  in 
  existence. 
  This 
  bird, 
  which 
  is 
  in 
  imma- 
  

   ture 
  plumage, 
  was 
  shown 
  to 
  me 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Thomas 
  Davies, 
  of 
  Lymni, 
  who 
  

   shot 
  it 
  at 
  Booth 
  Bank, 
  Millington, 
  in 
  "the 
  forties." 
  He 
  killed 
  it 
  in 
  

   the 
  month 
  of 
  August, 
  and, 
  though 
  interested 
  in 
  birds, 
  had 
  on 
  no 
  other 
  

   occasion 
  seen 
  a 
  Kite 
  in 
  that 
  locality. 
  — 
  T. 
  A. 
  Coward 
  (Bowdou, 
  

   Cheshire). 
  

  

  Night-Heron 
  in 
  Lancashire. 
  — 
  Mr. 
  Davies, 
  of 
  Lymm, 
  Cheshire, 
  has 
  

   in 
  his 
  possession 
  an 
  adult 
  Night-Heron 
  (Nycticorax 
  griseus) 
  which 
  was 
  

   killed 
  at 
  Newton-le- 
  Willows 
  some 
  " 
  ten 
  or 
  twelve 
  years 
  ago." 
  Mr. 
  

  

  