190 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



the pied plumage after the summer moult), but a bird in which the 

 abnormal marking is perpetuated, for I feel convinced it is the same bird 

 that I saw a year ago. I imagine the reason I have not observed it in 

 the meantime is because it is now, in the pairing and nesting time, that 

 these birds are so constantly on the lawn, whereas through the autumn 

 and early winter they are seldom there. — 0. P. Cambridge (Bloxworth 

 Rectory, Wareham). 



Hybrid Birds at the Crystal Palace Show.— Under this heading 

 (p. 154) Mr. A. Holte Macpherson, referring to the supposed Chaffinch- 

 Canary mule at the recent Palace Show, says : — " I am not aware of any 

 authenticated instance of such a hybrid." This is, I believe, true; but 

 I cannot help thinking that the fact is largely due to misconceptions on 

 the part of mule-breeders, many of whom are not scientific men, and firmly 

 believe in two widely-disseminated fallacies : — (1) that the Chaffinch does 

 not, like other finches, feed either its hen or its young from the crop; 

 (2) that the Chaffinch pairs on the wing. I have heard both these reasons 

 assigned for not attempting hybridization, not once, but repeatedly. As 

 regards the first — that the Chaffinch does not feed from the crop — I may 

 quote from notes which I took eight years ago: — "In the spring of 1886 

 I noticed that one of my hen Canaries had taken a fancy to a cock 

 Chaffinch in my aviary, but for some time he seemed not to reciprocate 

 the feeling; eventually, however, he began to feed her from the crop; 

 therefore I placed the pair together in a large cage, where they paired ; the 

 Canary built and commenced to lay eggs marked and coloured like those of 

 a Chaffinch. As the cock bird devoured the first egg, I took him out of the 

 cage, and three eggs of the Chaffinch type were then laid and sat upon 

 steadily for three weeks, when I took them out and found that they were all 

 clear." Now this bird only paired once with the Canary, and apparently 

 with little effect, for although the eggs had the opaque colouring and heavy 

 marking of Chaffinch eggs they were not fertile. The feeding of the cock 

 bird was, however, continued on the nest at intervals throughout the day 

 until the evening of the day on which the first egg was destroyed, when (as 

 soon as it was dark) I quietly removed the Chaffinch. I tried the same 

 Chaffinch with a Canary last year, but he is now too old for breeding 

 purposes. As regards the second fallacy, I have seen Chaffinches pairing 

 on the road, in a country lane, as long ago as 1872. — A. G. Butler 

 (Beckenham). 



Hybrid Grey Geese. — The winter has passed without adding any fresh 

 species to our Lakeland fauna, or favouring us with rarer visitors than a 

 few Wax win gs, Whoopers, and Bewick's Swans. One bird, however, has 

 been obtained, which will be of permanent interest — a wild-bred hybrid 

 between the Bean Goose and Grey Lag. This was shot a few weeks ago 

 by my friend Mr. Thomas Mann, under the impression that it was a 



