468 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



uninjured, on a grass lawn, was utterly unable to rise and fly away. Is 

 there really any foundation for the idea ? — H. Brinsley Brooke 

 (33, Egerton Gardens, S.W.). 



Kingfisher taking small Pike.— I have often watched a Kingfisher 

 perched on an alder overhanging the river, and keenly eyeing the shoals 

 of Minnows, some of which, with hover and dash, it eventually captured ; 

 but I had no idea that this bird sometimes takes fish much larger than 

 Minnows or Sticklebacks. A few days ago a boy brought me a Kingfisher 

 he had knocked down with a stone. I noticed a number of small scales 

 upon the beak of the bird, and something protruding from its throat ; and 

 on withdrawal this proved to be a small Pike, which when alive must have 

 been at least five inches in length, for the remains of it measured almost that, 

 although the head had nearly disappeared by digestion, and the mutilated 

 little fish weighed over half an ounce. It seemed extraordinary how such 

 a large mouthful could be swallowed and then accommodated in the small 

 stomach of such a bird, for very little was visible except the caudal fin 

 when I first saw it. Both the capture and swallowing of such large prey 

 seem unusual for so small a bird ; but the elongated form of a young Pike 

 would be better adapted to be swallowed than a more robust species, for 

 example, a Perch of the same weight. — G. B. Corbin (Ringwood, Hants). 



On the Change of Plumage in some Exotic Finches.— Just now 

 (Oct. 29th) I have in my aviary some young Gouldian Finches in the middle 

 of their change from nestling to adult plumage. It must be warm work, 

 for the new feathers come over the old, which do not drop out at the time. 

 One died on Oct. 28th, and I sent it on to Sir William Flower for the 

 Natural History Museum, as it is very interesting to see how it is done. 

 A few of the feathers at the union of the violently contrasting colours seem 

 to alter in tint, the colour growing in the feather itself. This is known to 

 be the case in the crimson colouring of the variety Porphila mirabilis, which 

 when it first acquires its adult plumage closely resembles P. gouldice, but 

 subsequently the black feathers of the head become rusty, red-brown, and 

 finally crimson. The little Indian Amaduvade is always changing — I should 

 think it must have half-a-dozen plumages in a year, but it only moults 

 once. 'Ike Fire- Weavers [Pyromelana) only moult the flank feathers and 

 upper tail-coverts, so far as I can judge, at the assumption of the breeding 

 plumage; these feathers being replaced by long soft plumes which cover 

 the short tail : all the other feathers change very gradually at first, and 

 then rapidly, the full colour appearing first along the centre of the shaft and 

 spreading forwards and laterally : I have not examined any of the moulted 

 breeding-feathers recently ; but so far as I can remember the colouring does 

 not extend to the extreme base. The change is very irregular, some feathers 

 colouring much sooner than others, so that at first the bird looks absurdly 

 patchy. The change in the Wagtails (Motacillidce) is similar: I have kept 



