662 NATURAL HISTORY MISCELLANY. 
We give the following copy of a letter received by Mr. Hig- 
ginson :— 
“Dear Sir ;—your favor was received on Wednesday night and 
Thursday morning I went over to Taunton to see the cat. Itis 
certainly a hybrid and I am very confident Mr. Dunbar is right in 
believing it to be a cross of the raccoon and cat. Ist. Its tail in 
markings and bushiness is strongly coon, as well as the markings 
of its fore and hind legs and paws. 2d. Its walking gait particu- 
larly in the handling of its hind legs is purely coon. 3d. Its dispo- 
sition is astonishingly wild intermingled with tame. 4th. I um- 
derstood. Mr. Dunbar that his brother-in-law brought the creature 
from China, Maine, and was assured by the man of whom he ob- 
tained it, that it was an intentional hybrid of the coon and cat, 
and not accidental, which to my mind makes it much more proba- 
ble. Mr. Dunbar promised to get the name of the original owner, 
and alsd to let me have the cat to stuff, if it should happen to die. 
He has also sent for a male hybrid, and if he gets it will inform 
me. This cat will soon have kittens, and as I am frequently m 
Taunton, I shall follow up the enquiry with interest. Thanking 
ing to give you farther information as fast as I obtain any 
am, Yours respectfully, 7 
J. W. P. JENKS- 
OrnitHoLocicaL Nores rrom Marye.—Mr. G. A. Boardman 
of Calais, Me., writes us that he has a Florida Gallinule, Gallinula 
galeata, that was shot near Calais this last spring. Also a black 
Golden-winged Woodpecker, Colaptes auratus, black as a grackle 
and breeding with a woodpecker of the usual color. An albino of 
the Little Black-headed Duck, Fulix affinis, has also been added to 
his collection, and he found a pair of Red-headed Ducks, Aythya 
Americana, breeding near Calais. This is the first time he has 
found the Red-head in summer. 
A New Srecms or ALLcaror.— Dr. Schulte-Buckow, who has 
travelled extensively in South America, gives in the New York 
“ Zeitung” an interesting account of the habits of the alligators. — 
He discovered a new species, which has been described by Prof. 
E. D. Cope under the name of Prosuchus fuscus. 
Tae Duck Hawx.—Mr. William Jarvis of Hanover, N. H+ 
writes us that he found the nest of a Duck Hawk on Eagle Cliff, 
near the Profile House, Franconia Notch, last summer. fhe 
young were able to fly from the nest, which was made of a few dry 
sticks placed round a slight hollow on a shelf of the cliff. 
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