NOTES AND QUERIES. 149 



partially developed upcurving of the central tail-feathers, and the other 

 markings already described by me (loc. cit), which clearly indicate its 

 relationship, however much it might otherwise resemble a Wigeon. Neither 

 the Teal nor the Wigeon has yellow feet, but the Wild Duck has, and the 

 cross, or hybrid, which I described certainly had yellow feet. The bird 

 was, I believe, sent to Messrs. Rowland Ward & Co., London. The colour 

 of the feet may have (and doubtless has) faded, but in the flesh they were 

 distinctly yellow. Besides, the whole markings distinctly point to the 

 hybrid having been Teal and Wild Duck, as already described, so far as I 

 can discriminate. — J. A. Harvie Brown (Dunipace, Larbert, N.B.). 



[We examined the bird in question on its arrival in London, and came 

 to the conclusion that Mr. Harvie Brown had correctly indicated its 

 affinities. Whether the so-called " Bimaculated Duck " is a hybrid between 

 Teal and Wild Duck, or between Teal and Wigeon, is another question. 

 The opinion of the late John Hancock is one which must certainly carry 

 weight ; but in our opinion the original descriptions by Vigors, who wrote 

 pedes lutei, membrano in medio nigro (Trans. Linn. Soc. 1824, vol. xiv. 

 p. 559), and Selby, who described the " legs and feet pale orange " (111. Brit. 

 Orn. vol. ii. p. 321), favours the view that the cross was one between Teal 

 and Wild Duck. It is true that they describe the tail as having " the two 

 middle feathers black, narrow, acuminate, and much longer than the rest," 

 in other words, not curled upwards as in the Mallard ; but this miaht 

 depend upon whether the parent Wild Duck was male or female (see 

 ' Yarrell,' 1st ed. 1843, vol. iii. p. 165).— Ed.] 



Song of the Redpoll. — I can corroborate some remarks under the 

 above heading by Mr. C. A. Witchell (Zool. 1891, p. 398), which has only 

 just been brought to my notice. As a keeper of birds in captivity for twenty 

 years, I can say with the greatest confidence that no person of experience 

 wishing to possess a bird with the natural wild note would ever dream of 

 having a bird from the nest, or a "brancher"; it being well known that 

 young birds imitate the notes, more or less, of the birds that they hear. 

 Birds do not sing, as a rule, till the spring following that in which they 

 were hatched. In Germany young Canaries are " trained " under Night- 

 ingales and other birds ; the process simply consists of their cages being 

 hung in close proximity to the bird whose song they are wanted to imitate; 

 from all others they are carefully isolated. The natural song of the Canary 

 is loud and harsh in a room, but it does not sound so when the bird is 

 flitting about the orchards and gardens of its native island in the sunshine. 

 Although I tried to avoid buying birds of the year for the above reasons, I 

 once purchased a cock Siskin for breeding purposes, which had the most 

 perfect Goldfinch's song. I was very anxious to see whether the young 

 would follow their parent's song or their own natural song, there being other 

 Siskins in the room; but I regret to say that I failed to breed from him. 



