404 SUPPLEMENTAEY NOTES, BT SIR WM. JABDINE. 



it again in disgust, though he eats a frog greedily." What is the 

 cause of disgust ? — the same acrid secretion. We have kept several 

 toads in the stove upon the tan pits, to catch insects. They have become 

 quite tame, and will come to watch at the edge of a flower pot, until 

 it is lifted, darting instantaneously with the tongue upon anything 

 exhibiting motion that is under it. 



The Sandpiper. — Letter XX., page 77, text and notes. 

 We stated in our " British Birds " — " Although this species extends 

 to the northernmost parts of the main land of Scotland, it does not 

 appear to visit the islands." We, however, find it mentioned in Mr. 

 Heddle's Birds of Orkneys, as visiting Hoy and Sanday ; Iceland, Green- 

 land and Faroe Islands are given by Mr. Yarrell, and southward, India 

 and its islands, Japan, Southern Africa ; in America it is represented by 

 T. maculwrius, or spotted sandpiper, so similar in its young plumage, that 

 the geographical distribution has on this account been confounded. 



Eagle Owl. — Letter XXVIII., page 103, text and note. 



Montague stated that the eagle owl had been killed in Yorkshire, 

 Sussex and Kent. Mr. Selby records a specimen killed on the muirs in 

 the county of Durham. In Ireland, a single record is given by Mr. 

 Thompson, on authority of Mr. Stuart, that a pair bred on Tory Island, 

 on the coast of Donegal. 



Pahasitic Hatching of Eggs. — Letter XXX., page 107, text and note, 

 and XXXIII., page 114, text and note. 



There is no economical habit more remarkable in ornithology, than 

 that of the parasitic hatching of eggs, which first was thought to be 

 confined to the common cuckoo of Europe ; but more extensive -re- 

 searches discovered that it was common to various genera of the 

 cuckoos, and that members of a few other groups also pursued the 

 same instinct. Various causes have been assigned for this anomalous 

 habit, but without sufficient reason ; and researches and comparisons 

 in the structure of the parasitic species are still wanting, and would, 

 without doubt, repay the inquirer. A large black species of Indian 

 cuckoo, Eudynamys orientalis, invariably deposits its eggs in the nests 

 of crows ; and it is suspected that, in this instance, the cuckoo some- 

 times destroys the eggs of the crow, its eggs being frequently found 

 alone. The young crows are also expelled. It is a very remarkable 

 instance of design in the case of this bird, that, except in size, (the 

 cuckoo's egg being slightly smaller,) the colour and markings are similar 

 to those of the crow. (See Contributions to Ornithology for 1850, 

 page 71.) 



Hedgehogs. — Letter XXXI., page 109. 



In our previous note we mentioned the eating of eggs by hedgehogs. 

 There is no doubt of the fact, and that therefore they are obnoxious to 

 gamekeepers. They are also so from another cause ; they emit a 

 very strong scent, and on the grassy muirs, those most favourable for 



