726 Birds. 



to be three, though in the instance to which I have alluded at the beginning of this 

 notice, seven are mentioned as the number. It is probable that this mention of the 

 fact of the grey parrot breeding in this country, may induce others, who have had op- 

 partunities of noting similar instances, to give the result of their observations to the 

 pages of ' The Zoologist,' which journal may be considered a scrap-book, and this 

 must be my apology for sending to its pages the above rough and imperfect contribu- 

 tion to the history and habits of the grey parrot. — Beverley R. Morris, M.D. ; York, 

 August 26, 1S44. 



Note on the habits of the Great Tit. A communication in the March number, 

 (Zool. 449), describing the hammering propensities of the great tit (Parus major), re- 

 minded me of a fact which I had observed in its economy, and one which I have never 

 seen noticed in any published account of its habits. I allude to its predilection for 

 hazel nuts, in procuring the kernels of which by smashing them on the branches, it 

 constantly makes the forests resound during the months of autumn, and has often 

 grievously disappointed my expectations, which, excited by the unusual sound, were 

 on tiptoe for the sight of a Picus major, a very rare bird with us, but which, however, 

 is occasionally to be met with. A few blows of the bird's powerful bill quickly lay 

 open the contents, when the shell of course is allowed to fall to the ground, whence I 

 have more than once picked it up after the operation, and so satisfied myself of the 

 fact. I may mention that the nuts appeared to be perfectly sound. — J. Poole. 



Note on Club-footed Canaries. A friend has suggested to me the advisability of 

 communicating to you the following phenomenon, that happened to the brood of a 

 pair of canaries in my possession. I may as well premise, that it was in the north of 

 Leicestershire, near Loughborough, and that the time was near the end of June, the 

 weather warm. Their first brood was unsuccessful, but the second was to all appear- 

 ance a very handsome brood of four, very well fledged and full coloured. On the 

 most forward of them coming out of the nest, it fell to the bottom of the cage, and on 

 my picking it up to ascertain the cause, I found it was club-footed. There was no 

 claw at all, and but one or two toes formed, both feet being alike, or nearly so. On 

 examining the remaining three nestlings, I found they were all in like plight, not a 

 single claw amongst them all. And this is tne singular part of it, for it would be no- 

 thing strange for one bird to be deformed, but for a whole brood to be so is very strange. 

 Both the parents are well formed, fine, healthy birds, in every respect. It was sug- 

 gested that the claws might have got entangled in the material of the nest, and so 

 have been lost; but after a diligent search nothing of the sort could be ascertained. I 

 may add that one bird of a former brood from another pair was hatched and lived with 

 but one claw; its toes, however, being perfect, enabled it to perch. It is yet alive. — 

 John Morris ; Wimeswold, near Loughborough, August 1, 1844. 



Note on a singular locality for a WagtaiVs Nest. There are at all the stations on 

 the Ayrshire railway, shifts or switches placed between two rails, for the purpose of re- 

 moving the carriages from one rail to the other. Under the shift of the Lochvvinnoch 

 station, a bird of the " wagtail " species has built a nest, and is now sitting on five 

 eggs, although there is scarcely an hour in the day that there is not a train passing 

 over it, and the wheels of the engine and carriages running within two or three inches 

 of the nesting-place of the little bird. It goes in and out as fearlessly as if it were out 

 of the reach of danger. — Scotch Paper. 



Anecdote of the change of Colour in a domestic Foivl. As a counterpart to the note 

 of Mr. Bond (Zool. 667), I may state that one of my workmen purchased in the spring 



