7104 Birds. 



discern any difference whatever betwixt them and the feathers of those birds which 

 possess the oil-gland. These are facts undeniable — not theories; what say you to 

 them ? If the lubricating system with oil from the gland holds good in birds, why 

 should it not equally hold good in beasts ? I have here a favourite Tom cat, and I 

 often see him apply his mouth to his posterior regions : who knows but that Tom is 

 then procuring wherewith to fertilize his fur audi ncrease its wonted brightness ? 

 — Charles Waterton ; Walton Hall, June 8, 1860. Communicated by Dr. Hobson. 



Arrival of Summer Birds. — While in the garden here, on the 6th of April, the 

 weather having been cold and dull for some time, I observed a small bird, which, from 

 its general appearance, I imagined to be the chifiFchaff, perched upon a shrub, from 

 which it flew down from time to time, apparently in pursuit of flies, much in the 

 manner of the flycatcher, though up to this time, probably owing to the inclemency of 

 the weather, I had not heard its peculiar note. The next day, however, being warm 

 and sunny, I for the first time heard it in the morning, and it continued for intervals 

 throughout the day, thus confirming my previous observation. On tbe 19lh I shot 

 a wryneck also in the garden in very good condition, and on the- 23rd of the same 

 month, in the afternoon, I saw a blackcap on one of the upper branches of a larch, 

 singing melodiously ; indeed I have noticed au unusual number of these birds this 

 season, many of them in remote situations. About this time I also heard the white- 

 throat. On the 25th of the same month a pair of swallows were seen by me for the 

 first time this season, being the same day on which I first noticed them last year, in a 

 different part of the country, though the summer was much more advanced. Owing 

 to the lateness of the season, I have heard it remarked that the migratory birds have 

 been much later in their arrival, but I cannot say this has been the result of my obser- 

 vations. — John Henry Belfrage ; Muswell Hill, May 4, 1860. 



Occurrence of the Osprey (Falco haliaeetus) at Sherburne. — A very fine male 

 osprey was shot near the mill-dam at Sherburne by one of the keepers of Sir T. D. 

 Ledgard of Ganton Hall. It had been seen about for some time previously, and traps 

 were set for it, but did not succeed. It was afterwards seen with a trout, and was 

 shot. The bird has been forwarded by Sir T. D. Ledgard to me to be preserved. — 

 A. Roberts ; Naturalist, King Street, Scarborough, June 2, 1860. 



Occurrence of the Sparrow Owl in Yorkshire. — I do not recollect ever mentioning 

 to you for insertion in the ' Zoologist ' an account of my having received from a young 

 clergyman, a son of Mr. Bury, who has the church at Osbarton (my brother-in-law j 

 Mr. Foljambe's place), who, knowing I had a very fine collection of British birds, 

 sent me a small owl in a very curious case, which was shot in the East Riding of 

 Yorkshire, not far from Beverley, by a keeper, a brother of Sir Thomas Whichcote's 

 keeper, of Asworley, Lincolnshire. He sent this bird to his brother, who gave it to 

 Mr. Bury, from whom I received it. I found out afterwards, from looking at Audubon's 

 ' Birds of America,' that it was the sparrow owl {Strix acadica), which is rather common ' 

 in some parts of America, but totally unknown in this country. — W. M. E. Milner ; ' 

 17, Brunswick Terrace, Brighton, June 16, 1860. ' 



A Tame Cuckoo. — I am enabled to give the biography, unluckily but a short one, 

 of a cuckoo which was taken late last summer from the nest of a greenfinch, and came 

 into the possession of a shoemaker's wife, a great petter of birds, in the village of 

 Staverton, Northamptonshire. I first heard of the bird early in January from a lady, 

 my sister, who had seen it a few days previously. It was fed upon meat and eggs, 

 was brought up — unconfined — in the living room of the cottage, where it perched as 



