in. 



lin. 



in. 



lin. 



in. 



lin. 



9 







9 



2 



6 



7 



4 



6 



4 



6 



4 







3 



1 



3 



1 



2 



3 



1 



1 



1 



2 



1 











3 







3 







2 







3 







94 







2 



1 



1 



1 











6 







5 







7 







5 







5i 







5 







4 



1968 £in/s. 



description of this bird says that it has dusky spots on a white ground on the breast ; 

 that the remainder of the under parts are white ; that the back is olive brown ; that 

 the tail and wing-quills are brownish ; and that the length is about seven inches. 

 This answers to my bird, but these words might be applied to at least twenty different 

 sorts of thrushes, were it not for the small size indicated. 



Comparative dimensions of T. iliacus, T. musicus, and T. minor. 



T. iliacus. T. musicus. T. minor. 



Total length 



Length of wing from the shoulder 



Length of tail ... 



Length of tarsus 



Length of hallux 



Length of its nail 



Length of middle toe with the nail 



Length of bill from angle 



Length of bill along the upper ridge ... 

 — Julian Deby ; Laeken, October 20th, 1847. 



Occurrence of the Roller near Shelton Castle (Redcar P). — Last July a pair of rollers 

 were seen in a plantation called " Forty Pence," belonging to John Thomas Wharton, 

 Esq., of Shelton Castle. One of which was shot by Mr. Rickaby, who farms the land 

 adjoining the said plantation, and is now in the possession of Mr. Lawrence Wetherell, 

 of Guisboro'. This proved, on dissection, to be a female having eggs in it, conse- 

 quently we may infer that the other seen was a male, and that they would have bred 

 in that locality if they had not been disturbed. — T. S. Rudd ; Redcar, November 

 4th, 1847. 



Disappearance of Swallows at Penmanshiel, Berwickshire. — The swallows left us 

 about the 9th of September, immediately after their last broods had become fledged, 

 and the martins disappeared from the coast a day or two after. T was much surprised, 

 however, on the morning of the 3rd instant (October) to see five or six of the swallows 

 glide rapidly past, uttering their usual sharp note, and disappear to the south. This, 

 doubtless, was a party of loiterers, on their way to overtake our departed sum- 

 mer friends. — James Hardy ; Penmanshiel, by Cockburnspath, Berwickshire, October 

 5th, 1847. 



Female Bullfinch in Plumage of Male. — A few months back I wrote to Mr. Water- 

 ton to ask him to have the goodness to explain to me the following fact : I have in my 

 possession a bullfinch which I always thought was a cock, but one morning, on looking 

 into the cage, I saw an egg in it. Great was my surprise ; I took out the egg and ex- 

 amined it ; it was not a perfect egg, it was soft. The bird has never been, as far as I 

 know, with any other bird : I inquired of the man who used to have charge of him, if 

 it had ever been with another bird, and he answered negatively. A few mornings af- 

 ter that, I found another egg like the other, not perfect. I wrote to Mr. Waterton 

 twice, and mentioned in one of my letters, that perhaps lime was the cause of an im- 

 perfect egg ; he said he did not think that quite the case. I must make a great many 

 excuses to you for not writing sooner, as Mr. Waterton said the fact was most worthy 

 of investigation. I should not myself have thought it anything worthy of looking into 

 if he bad not said so. Perhaps you might be so kind as to give inc some information 



