Birds. 2297 



1 Zoologist ' that a bird of predatory habits, a stranger also to maternal cares, no 

 sooner sees a helpless young one of its own species than it comprehends its wants, 

 and, what is still belter, relieves them. What a lesson might man, with all his 

 boasted reason, learn from the instinct of this persecuted bird ! — W. Turner, A.M. ; 

 Uppingham, October 10, 1848. 



Occurrence of Hawks near Bicester. — A fine specimen of the honey buzzard (Falco 

 apivorus) was shot near Woodstock a short time since ; also a female specimen of the 

 Montagu's harrier (Oircus cineraceus), and several specimens of the hobby (Falco sub- 

 buteo) : of the latter I have received four specimens, namely, male and female old 

 birds, and male and female young birds. — Thomas Prater ; Bicester, September 23, 

 1848. 



Capture of a Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus) near Beamish, Durham. — A honey 

 buzzard was shot by the gamekeeper of Sir John Eden, Bart., near Beamish, Durham, 

 on the 7th instant. It is a male, and in the plumage of the first year, — a uniform 

 dark brown. I have not heard of the occurrence of this fine bird in our district since 

 its unwonted abundance in 1841. — Thomas John Bold ; 42, Bigg Market, Neivcastle- 

 on-Tyne, October 16, 1848. 



Prolific Pair of Blackbirds. — The following notice, regarding the nidification, &c, 

 of a single pair of blackbirds, during the bygone breeding-season, may interest some 

 of your readers, and show that this species may multiply in a greater ratio than many 

 are aware of. 



April 27, 1848. The young leave the first nest, built in a clump of ivy on the top 

 of a wall ; four in number, one egg having been abstracted from the nest before incu- 

 bation. 



April 29. Two eggs in the second nest, detected in a bushy yew tree. 



May 16. The cock observed feeding the five young, newly hatched, on the second 

 nest. 



May 24. Hen blackbird seen making her third nest in an apple tree nailed to 

 a wall. 



May 29. Two eggs in the third nest ; and the brood leave the second nest and 

 perch on the trees. 



June 10. Third nest forsaken. Of the eggs, which were five in number, two re- 

 main in the nest, part of the others on the ground below the nest, and part of them 

 found on a walk some twenty yards from it. 



June 14. Blackbird's fourth nest begun in a birch hedge. 



June 23. Of the five eggs laid in the fourth nest only two remain ; another found 

 on the ground below it: it seems to have been pillaged by some bird, in the same way 

 as the third nest. 



June 26. Fifth and last nest of blackbird partially formed in a vine trained on 

 the end of a house. 



July 18. Blackbirds in the fifth nest half grown : they leave the nest on the 26th. 



Thus a single pair of birds had twenty-five eggs, and reared fourteen young in 

 one season. The garden and shrubbery are so small in extent, that had there been 

 more than one pair about them they would have at once been detected ; and such were 

 frequently looked for, but always in vain. The dates of the different stages observed 

 also tend to show that one pair may have constructed and managed the whole nests 

 with their contents, eggs being never found in more than one nest at the same time, 

 unless when one had been forsaken. From a careful examination of the ground 



