43 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



come to me when I called to them, and if I sat out in the garden 

 would spend the time either on my chair or near my feet on the 

 ground — when I came in they would retire to a hedge or into a tree." 



The docility of the Starling in captivity is well known, though it 

 is very rarely kept as a pet now-a-days ; but Miss Twy man's success 

 in keeping a picked-up Swift nestling for nearly a year, and moulting 

 it successfully, is a most remarkable avicultural achievement. Her 

 notes on the pet Sparrow are also of particular interest, because it 

 has been suggested that Lesbia's Sparrow, honoured with a funeral 

 notice by no less a person than the poet Catullus, could not have 

 been a Sparrow, because Sparrows make such unpleasant cage birds. 



It is true that the Roman Sparrow must have been Passer italicB, 

 which replaces domesticus in Italy, and may well differ in disposition 

 from it ; the large and beautiful Russian and Siberian Goldfinches, 

 though not now separated as a species from our Goldfinch, are well 

 known to be much quieter in captivity, and are commonly exhibited 

 soon after importation. But, in addition to this record of Miss 

 Twyman's, there are two other recent ones of common House- Sparrows 

 kept as pets by English ladies, and proving most interesting birds — 

 one given by Mr. W. H. Hudson in his ' Birds of London,' and one 

 published in that very interesting collection, Dr. W. T. Greene's 

 'Notes on Cage Birds.' Thus there is no reason to doubt that 

 the Roman lady's pet was a true Passer. With regard to the bird 

 cited by Mr. Hudson, it is of interest to note that it lived to the age 

 of eighteen years, dying at last suddenly and in good condition. 



'The Vertebrate Fauna of North Wales.' — Mr. H. E. Forrest 

 writes: "I am preparing a Supplement to the above volume, and shall 

 be glad to receive any additional notes or observations from natura- 

 lists who can help in that way. Address : H. E. Forrest,. Bayston 

 Hill, Shrewsbury." No doubt many readers of the ' Zoologist ' will 

 be able to give the required assistance, but we might perhaps be 

 allowed to suggest that such notes might well be sent to this 

 magazine; there has been a regrettable shortage in the " Notes and 

 Queries " of late, while the publication of the notes would be of 

 service to compilers of books, inasmuch as one observation, published, 

 is likely to draw a record of another. 



Errata. — Vol. xviii., December, p. 452, Asplachna should be 

 Asplanchna. 



