Birds, 1331 



forms a solid mass of knowledge, which theories may indeed be built upon, but which 

 they can never, in the smallest degree, undermine. — T. V. Wollaston ; Jesus College, 

 Cambridge, February, 1846. 



[For my own part I feel extremely obliged to Mr. King for making known through 

 the pages of ' The Zoologist,' one of the most pleasing and valuable natural -history 

 facts that has ever appeared in print. Mr. King " feels inclined " to act " as the cham- 

 pion " of swans generally, in regard to their singing, because he has heard one of the 

 genus sing sweetly. I must say I should have entertained a similar desire, had my 

 good fortune been equal to his. Indeed, I do not value Mr. King's paper a whit the 

 less for having called forth Mr. Wollaston's criticisms. I believe, however, that Mr. 

 Wollaston need not fear any of the /ac*-naturalists contending that the Cycni of the 

 poets were the black swans of Van Diemen's Land. Most of my readers will, I dare 

 say, recollect a passage in ' Rusticus,' which tends to show that the poets did not 

 always hail the swan as a melodious bird of song. — Edward Newman] . 



Occurrence of the Purple Heron near Penzance. — I have seen this afternoon a very 

 perfect and adult specimen of the purple- crested heron {A. purpurea), which was killed 

 two days ago in a small sedgy grove under Killiow House, the residence of William 

 Daubuz, Esq., about two miles westward of Truro. That gentleman has written to 

 me announcing his having sent the bird for preservation to Mr. Vingoe of this place, 

 and I have in consequence had a good opportunity of examining the bird. It is in 

 every respect in perfect plumage, and all its plumes are uninjured. It was seen fly- 

 ing about the grove, where there are two large ponds, on Monday last. In condition, 

 the bird is extremely emaciated. Does not the appellation purpurea claim a " lucus 

 non lucendo " as regards the heron ? I never saw less purple about any bird. How 

 much more apposite is Latham's term rufa! — Edward Hearle Rodd ; Penzance, 

 April llth, 1846. 



Snipe in captivity. — To those who may wish to domesticate the snipe in aviaries, it 

 may be interesting to know the followiug facts. Having slightly winged a Jack 

 (Scolopax Gallinula), I brought it home and placed it in a gauze-wire cage to prevent 

 its injuring itself by attempts at escape ; I gave it worms, chopped raw beef, and 

 a portion of boiled rice, on this it fed freely, and soon became perfectly tame — would 

 take a worm from my hand and eat before strangers, requiring three good meals a day, 

 the last late in the evening ; the mixture in the tin vessel, if not sufficiently soft, was 

 rendered so by the addition of water which it took on its bill for that purpose; the 

 whole of the meat was eaten first, leaving a portion only of the rice in a thin pulp. It 

 lived a month, and its death was occasioned by want of room to dry its plumage, which 

 was always in a wet state, and the glutinous nature of the rice-water causing the sand 

 and gravel to adhere to the breast-feathers ; this would be obviated by placing these 

 birds in an aviary or room, with plenty of clean water and tufts of grass or reeds for 

 their shelter. In this state the whole of the Scolopax tribe may be kept alive, and 

 would be highly interesting to the ornithologist. — W. F. L. Ross ; Topham, Devon. 



