Birds. 4661 



Occurrence of the Polish Swan at Hornsey Mere. — On the 2nd of March two fine 

 adult specimens of the Polish swan were killed on Hornsey Mere (near Yarmouth), by 

 Mr. Eising's keeper: they were quite alone, and difficult to approach. One of the 

 specimens was sent to Mr. Yarrell for his inspection, who confirmed me in my opinion, 

 as to its being the " Cygnus immutabilis" (changeless swan) of his work. Several 

 flocks of this wild swan were seen in the neighbourhood during the late severe 

 weather, and within the last ten days three more birds have been obtained in the 

 same locality as the above ; one of which proved to be Bewick's, and the other two 

 hoopers. — George S. Frederick; 13, Westbourne Terrace, North, March 19, 1855. 



Black Swans Breeding in Confinement. — A pair of black swans which have been in 

 my possession for about three years, without having bred, have just hatched three cyg- 

 nets, from four eggs. They were very busy quite early in January in making their 

 nest, which consisted of rushes, which they collected themselves on the banks of the 

 canal ; and of which they collected a large quantity, and which they were continually 

 adding to the nest during the time they were sitting. They have chosen a spot 

 entirely exposed to the north wind without the slightest shelter, and at times I feared 

 they would have been buried in the snow. The first egg was laid about the 15th of 

 January, and the young ones were hatched on the 8th of March : they are quite 

 strong, and there seems every chance of their living. — Samuel Gurney, Jun. ; Carshal- 

 ton, March, 1855. 



Curious act of Autosurgery in a Teal.— On the 27th of February my brother wrote 

 to me from Conway, North Wales, and he says, " I shot a teal some days ago which 

 had had its leg broken some days previously, probably by a shot. This bird had most 

 ingeniously spliced and mended it. Through a hole in the skin the bird had passed 

 tolerably large feathers, had passed them round the protruding bone and back again 

 through the hole, thereby keeping the bone not only covered, but pretty close to the 

 fracture ; several feathers were thus employed, and all fastened off and glued together 

 by means of the clotted blood, so that a casual observer would not have remarked it. I 

 thought it uncommonly ingenious, and, in my desire to ascertain the modus operandi, 

 I pulled all the feathers ont, or I should otherwise have preserved it." I wrote to my 

 brother to know whether he was certain it was not done by some other means, as 

 for instance, by the shot. To my inquiries he replies: " The teal's leg was broken in 

 the length where there are no feathers, and the principal feather inserted by the bird 

 was not such a feather as grows on the upper portion of the leg, but appeared to me to 

 be a long breast-feather or wing-feather near the breast. The manner in which it was 

 inserted, leaves no doubt in my mind that it was so placed by the bird, as were 

 the other feathers which I have described.'' — T. A. Preston; Emmanuel College, 

 Cambridge, March 13, 1855. 



Electric Property in the Feathers of a Woodpigeon. — " On Thursday, the day before 

 the thaw commenced, I shot a woodpigeon, which I put into my pocket ; on taking it 

 out when I got home, a good many feathers which were loose, were so attracted to my 

 body and clothes that it was a work of labour to remove them all ; and when I held 

 one of the feathers in my hand and put my finger or anybody else's finger near the 

 feather, it was attracted to it. Now, I am aware that this is caused by the electricity 

 of my body, but as no other feather was thus attracted except taken from the body 

 of the lately-killed pigeon, I should like an explanation of this." In answer to 

 questions put by me, my brother says : " The pigeon had been shot fully an hour 

 before I got home. It was very severe frost, probably the feathers had retained 

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