2348 Birds. 



If they ever had any spots on them, it was never move than one or two very small 

 ones. The four specimens still in my possession are as nearly as possible milk-white. 

 It appears to me scarcely possible that this should be the egg of either S. trochilus or 

 S. sibilatrix : neither does it correspond with Temminck's description of the egg of the 

 true S.hippolais; nor with the egg that passes commonly for that of the chiff-chaff. 

 Both nest and egg very much resemble those described by Temminck as belonging to 

 the S. Nattereri ; but then he says that bird is never seen in the North of Europe. 

 May not Sylvia Icterina — which frequently occurs in Holland, and which appears to 

 be often confounded with S. trochilus — be also one of our occasional summer visitants ? 

 Temminck says that he has never even seen the nest or the egg of " Icterina," and he 

 gives no description of them with which the egg in question might be compared. I 

 shall end by repeating my request for information, through the pages of the ' Zoolo- 

 gist,' as to whether the egg of Temminck's Sylvia hippolais is certainly known. — Wm. 

 Lean ; Birmingham, \2th mo. 14<A, 1848. 



Abundant occurrence of the Crested Tit (Parus cristatus) in Scotland. — I have 

 heard that this rare British bird has made its appearance, during the past autumn, in 

 unusual numbers, in Scotland. At a late meeting of the Zoological Society, Mr. 

 Gould exhibited several specimens in the flesh, — the first instance within my know- 

 ledge of their having been seen in London in that state. — Edward Newman, 



Reply to Mr. Briggs on the destructive power of the Sparrow. — Before I offer any 

 comment on the communication of your correspondent, Mr. Briggs — and lest he 

 should suppose I am " no naturalist," and therefore incapable of distinguishing be- 

 tween the sparrow (Fringilla domestica) and the hedge warbler {Accentor modularis) — 

 let me inform him that there is not, I do believe, a boy 12 years of age, in this district, 

 who would not at once tell him that the ' billy hedge sparrow ' is a dull gray-brown 

 fellow, who lays blue eggs and warbles his simple lay in the hedges ; while the ' tile 

 sparrow,' with more variegated plumage, utters his incessant chirp upon the tiles and 

 lays a gray mottled egg. Then, as to being a " practical matter-of-fact man," I may 

 state that, having lived upwards of thirty years sufficiently in the country to allow of 

 the practice, I have devoted every hour that I could spare from business to the con- 

 templation of God's creatures ; and study of their habits and economy has taught me 

 how infinitely more perfect are the arrangements of Deity, for the universal benefit of 

 His creatures, than any which man in his folly may attempt to devise, — and, also, that 

 infringement of His laws of compensation is invariably productive of infinite mischief. 

 And now for Mr. Briggs' communication. Certainly the murderous plan devised by 

 his " intelligent matter-of-fact " friends is calculated to prove something; and it seems 

 to have proved that sparrows to the number of 3500 may find a subsistence on about 

 3400 acres of land : this is rather more than a sparrow to an acre. What a serious 

 inroad must one poor pitiful sparrow make on an acre of corn ! Then as to the calcu- 

 lation founded on the observations of these " matter-of-fact" gentlemen : one sparrow 

 eats one quart of corn a month ! twelve quarts a year ! ! Will Mr. Briggs allow me to 

 ask him how he imagines the sparrow contrives to get it? During one or two months, 

 when the corn is ripening in the ear, the sparrow may — and no doubt does — feast him- 

 self gloriously ; but during winter, spring, and the early part of summer, I fear if he 

 had nothing to eat but the grain he could collect from corn-stacks and barn-doors, his 

 numbers would not greatly annoy even Mr. Briggs. What then becomes of his cal- 

 culation ? With regard to the grain found in the sparrow's crops, — if Mr. Briggs will 

 try the experiment he will find that any corn exposed to warmth and moisture will 



