568 Birds. 



probably be inferred from my statement, withont any comment of mine, that I do not 

 attribute these pleasing peculiarities to any of the causes assumed by your intelligent 

 correspondents. The violent action of the bird striking the glass, not only with his 

 bill, but with his breast and feet, convinces me he was not in pursuit of flies; nor do 

 I remember observing any in the window. He was not allured nor deluded by his re- 

 flexion from the glass, for his visits became more regular when the blind which caus- 

 ed, or at least strengthened, the reflection, was removed. He was not a widowed or a 

 solitary bird, for I repeatedly saw him attended by his mate. What then was the ex- 

 traordinary impulse to these familiar and fantastic freaks ? I think I have read, and, 

 if my recollection serves me, in Goldsmith's ' Animated Nature,' that these anomalies 

 of instinct not unfrequently occur during incubation ; and I well remember having 

 heard, when a boy, a laughable and well authenticated story of a similar propensity in 

 an old gander, during the incubation of his mate, to the society of his owner, a worthy 

 old humourist of my neighbourhood. I see no reason why these influences, whatever 

 they may be (possibly a desire to court the protection of man at a season when the sen- 

 sibilities are most alive), should not prevail amongst the less as well as amongst the 

 larger orders of the feathered creation ; and I confess, that calmly reviewing the sin- 

 gular circumstances I have just related, I find it difficult to trace them to any other 

 source. — James Cornish; Black Hall, February 26, 1844. 



Note on a singular habit of the Grey Wagtail. An interesting discussion has taken 

 place in ' The Zoologist,' respecting the habit of the Motacilla Boarula resorting to 

 windows, (Zool. 136, 230, 358). To me the communication at page 358, seems to 

 contain something like the solution of the mystery. In confirmation of what is there 

 stated, may be cited the popular belief in Berwickshire, that it is illegal to place a 

 looking-glass in a dove-cote (and here the Hon. Daines Barrington might have been 

 gratified in his researches into the imaginary beliefs in statutes that never existed), 

 seeing the pigeon is so conceited of its person, that in a short time the whole cotes of 

 the neighbourhood will be emptied, to the benefit of the one that contains the enticing 

 lure. This, though ridiculous enough, has doubtless some grains of truth mixed up 

 with its absurdity. I recollect, some years ago, an individual of the domestic pigeon, 

 frequenting the window of an upper apartment of a house in the country, where I was 

 accustomed to pass much of my time, and occasionally pecking at the window in the 

 same manner as the wagtail is said to have done, as if it wished something inside. I 

 have no doubt that it saw the reflection of its own image ; for before mirrors became 

 plentiful, it was a well known resource of the peasantry on the borders, when they wish- 

 ed to arrange their head-attire, to go to the outside of the window and look in. Does 

 not some writer mention goldfinches as being fond of a mirror? — James Hardy ; El- 

 lison Terrace, Gateshead, Newcastle, April 26, 1 844. 



Correction of a supposed error in a previous communication as to the Reed Bunting's 

 not having a black head in winter. In the March number (Zool. 450) Mr. Greenwood 

 states that " the reed bunting is not to be obtained with a black head in winter." Be- 

 ing intimately acquainted with the reed bunting, from its so constantly coming under 

 my notice, and its being so great a pet of mine, I should feel myself doing this bird 

 an injustice, were I to let this opportunity pass without vindicating its cause. Surely 

 then this statement cannot be ! The many times this bird has come under my obser- 

 vation, the male bird has never yet been seen by me denuded of its elegant black cap. 

 It was only last Sunday that I saw four of these birds; of the four, two were males, 

 but both had their heads decked in black, though it was not of so beautiful a velvety 



