Birds. 453 



act. He appeared at the moment to be in a state of considerable excitement; his head 

 was stretched out almost on a line with his back, his wings and tail were fluttering, 

 and he was evidently under the influence of some passerine emotion. My impression 

 at the time was, that the sounds (which appeared to me to be a sort of buzzing croak) 

 proceeded from the throat of the bird, but I might be mistaken. I have heard the 

 same sounds once or twice since, but have not again been able to see the bird in the 

 act of emitting them, although I knew that sparrows were the authors of them, as they 

 were the only birds I could see in the trees from whence the sounds proceeded. From 

 the attitude of the bird in question, and his whole gestures, I am inclined to think the 

 sounds must have been used as a sort of love-note. But then the question arises, if it 

 be so, why do we not hear it more frequently ? And this, I confess, I am unable to 

 answer. — J. Pemberton Bartlett ; Kingston Rectory, December 4, 1843. 



Note on the Bullfinch breeding in confinement. The bulfinch, though naturally of 

 a shy disposition, readily becomes tame in confinement. In the spring of 1837, a pair 

 of these birds, which had been caged some months, were observed eagerly picking up 

 moss and hair in the room in which they were accustomed to fly loose, and on their 

 being furnished with materials, speedily constructed a nest, chiefly of fibrous roots, si- 

 milar to that of the bullfinch in a state of nature. The female laid five eggs, from 

 which three young birds were hatched : they appeared to thrive well for ten days, the 

 old birds feeding them regularly on egg boiled hard, but at the end of that time they 

 suddenly forsook them, perhaps from the want of insect food. In consequence of this 

 desertion, two of the young birds died, but the third was saved, being brought up in a 

 nest of young canaries. At an early subsequent period of the same year, the female 

 again laid five eggs in the same nest, but soon deserted them. — E. E. B. ; * Ley ton, 

 Essex. 



Tame Pigeons perching in trees is by no means uncommon ; it is usually the young- 

 birds that take this position, and I think it is for sport, as they frequently chase one 

 another along the boughs, although not very elegantly. — John Heppenstall ; Upper- 

 thorpe, near Sheffield, December 20, 1843. 



Anecdote of the Dovecot Pigeon. Some years ago a male dovecot pigeon, the sole 

 survivor of a small colony which had inhabited a pigeon-hutch fastened against one of 

 the walls of an out-building, took up his abode during the winter season in the kitchen 

 of the public-house which stands close to the sea-bank at Ingoldwells in Lincolnshire. 

 He was perfectly tame and familiar, feeding off the table, or warming himself before 

 the fire, and passing the nights in the apartment, and in fact making himself very 

 happy and contented. When spring arrived, however, he disappeared for a brief space, 

 but shortly returned with a female of his own species, and the pair took possession of 

 the neglected pigeon-hutch on the wall, where they reared their young. After the 

 season of incubation, they took their departure, but at the approach of winter the male 

 bird returned alone, and again commenced his life of single blessedness in the inn 

 kitchen, as free and familiar, and doubtless as welcome, as before. On the return of 

 spring, he again disappeared, and it seems exerted his seductive powers successfully 

 in inducing the same or another female to return with him. Again they took up their 

 abode in the deserted pigeon-hutch — again reared their young broods — again at the 

 same time departed — and with winter the old male bird again resumed his favourite 

 hibernal quarters. This was repeated several seasons, until at length, it is probable, 



* Communicated by J. Gurney Barclay, Esq. 



