270 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Pairing Manosuvres of Pigeons, &c. — With reference to Mr. E. Selous's 

 remarks on the covering of the male domestic Pigeon by the hen after 

 normal pairing, I may mention that I have frequently seen this action 

 myself, and believe it to be not unusual. The behaviour of birds after 

 pairing has not yet received sufl&cient attention from observers. I have 

 myself noticed that the male Zebra Finch {Tceniopygia castanotis), after 

 pairing, vibrates his tail so quickly that it is almost invisible ; and that both 

 sexes of the Larger Tree-Duck of India {Dendrocyc7ia fulva), as soon as the 

 action is performed, " tread water," with one wing raised, in a very curious 

 fashion. These manoeuvres are, I think, simply due to general excite- 

 ment ; but such performances are worth recording, as often, if occurring 

 before pairing, they would be set down as gestures designed for sexual 

 attraction. — Frank Finn (c/o Zoological Society, 3, Hanover Square, 

 London. W.). 



Little Bustard in Derbyshire. — On May 14th a Little Bustard (Otis 

 tetrux) was shot by a farmer on Middleton Top, near Youlgreave, North 

 Derbyshire. He saw that his victim was something uncommon, and took 

 it to a local stuflfer. The sex was not determined by dissection, but no 

 doubt the bird is a female, as the plumage is devoid of all ornaments. This 

 is only the second recorded appearance of the Little Bustard in Derbyshire, 

 the first being in 1797. This specimen is now in my collection. — W. 

 Storrs Fox (S. Anselm's, Bakewell). 



Birds in Lisbon. — Our ship came into the Tagus on April I7th, and 

 the following notes refer to the birds observed in Lisbon or the neighbour- 

 hood during the five days I spent there. After some Gannets at the mouth 

 of the river, the first remarkable bird was a Kite, who, in company with 

 Sea-Gulls, flew up and down the river opposite the town. I saw it again 

 on a subsequent occasion flying backwards and forwards in easy graceful 

 circles, often within a few yards of the quays, now and again swooping down 

 upon some scrap of offal which the current brought past. From its forked 

 tail and mottled rufous plumage, I was able clearly to identify it as Milvus 

 ictinus, the same species who used to perform the office of scavenger in 

 London in the Middle Ages. The Gulls were for the most part in imma- 

 ture plumage. The vast majority of the adult birds were Lesser Black- 

 backed Gulls. Next in numbers came Herring-Gulls, which, I think, were 

 all of the yellow-legged species — the Larus cachinnans of Pallas. In Vigo 

 Bay, on the Spanish coast north of Lisbon, I was able clearly to see the 

 brilliant yellow legs and rather darker mantles of these birds. Whilst on 

 the journey home, at Cherbourg, I could see with equal certainty the flesh- 

 coloured legs of the ordinary British Herring-Gull. A few birds seemed 

 to be Common Gulls, and a great number, with hoods in various stages of 

 completeness, belonged to the black-headed family, which, from the deep 



