Birds. 2567 



The following particulars, which have been kindly supplied to me by Mr. Fountaine, 

 will, I have no doubt, be acceptable to the readers of the ' Zoologist.' The first egg 

 was observed on the 13th April, and the two others about a week afterwards. Two 

 young ones were found to be hatched on the 19th, and the other on the 22nd May. 

 They were entirely covered with white down when first hatched. When they were 

 about three weeks old, they began to exchange the first or white down for the second 

 down, which was of a brownish gray colour. And at the age of about five weeks, the 

 feathers began to appear, and the young owls are now, able to fly up to their perches, 

 are nearly as large as their parents, and in fact much in the same stage as the speci- 

 mens usually imported from Norway at this time of year by the London bird-dealers. — 

 J. H. Gurney ; Easton, July 23, 1849. 



Error in describing the American Shrike. — In the notice which I sent you regard- 

 ing the American Shrike (Zool. 2495), I find there is a mistake, which probably ori- 

 ginated in the transcription for the press. Instead of " in the American male there 

 are two small bars of white on the wing, whereas in the European there is but one," 

 the words should be, " in the European male there are two small bars of white on the 

 wing, whereas in the American there is but one/' — James Smith ; Manse of Mon- 

 quhitter, July 23, 1849. ' 



Curious Fact in the Nesting of the Long-tailed Tit (Parus caudatus). — Mr. Yarrell, 

 in his account of this bird, states the number of eggs to be ten or twelve, and occa- 

 sionally a larger number : I suspect where the greater number is found, there will be 

 more than one pair of birds attached to the same nest. I have known several in- 

 stances when a considerable number of birds have had one nest in common. In one 

 instance there were nine, and I found the nest whilst the birds were lining it with fea- 

 thers, and if I remember rightly, most of them were engaged in conveying the fea- 

 thers. During the time of incubation, two usually sat on the eggs, the number of 

 which I never discovered, for fear of disturbing the nest, which was built in a very 

 singular position, being placed in the fork of a large oak-tree. I assisted in capturing 

 five of the parent birds, belonging to another nest, whilst feeding their young; and 

 two or more were left behind. The nest containing the young birds was .conveyed to a 

 distance of several miles, and placed in a garden, and unfortunately on the ground 

 under a riddle for the first night, and on the following morning four out of the five old 

 birds were dead, either from the cold, or from the injuries they had received in being 

 captured. The nest, with the young, were then placed in a low bush in the garden, 

 and the surviving bird set at liberty, when it immediately began to feed the young, 

 and brought them all up : fortunately there was a plentiful supply of caterpillars just 

 at hand, or I think the labour would have been too much for the single bird, as its 

 short flights to and from the nest were almost incessant. — H. Horsfall ; Calverley 

 House, near Bradford, York, August 3, 1849. 



Note on the occurrence of the Ring Ousel (Turdus torquatus) near Esher. — A spe- 

 cimen of the above-named bird was shot near this place about the middle of the pre- 

 sent month. — F. A. Chennell ; Esher, Surrey, August 24, 1849. 



Enquiry respecting the Bullfinch (Loxia pyrrhula), — Can the ' Zoologist ' recom- 

 mend any method of overcoming bullfinches (or hoops) ? which, last spring have 

 committed more ravages than usual, in a secluded parish in the north of Devon, 

 where they can harbour in surrounding plantations ; guns are employed to little pur- 

 pose. Any advice on this subject will be thankfully received by the clergyman of 



