332 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



ferences from all contributors. Hence, the value 

 of that delightful periodical, which should be 

 placed side by side with "our own." In the 

 "Naturalist," No. 21, are three records that I 

 should like to see transferred to our pages. I 

 have copied them, and send them to you for in- 

 sertion. They have reference to the Nuthatch 

 and its nest ; a curiously-marked Yellow-ham- 

 mer; and the instinct of a Toad. This last 

 article shows the toad to be a sensible animal. — 

 Louisa C, Tonbridge Wells. 



[Many thanks, kind Louisa, for your vigilance, 

 friendship, and good- will. These little offices of 

 love are not lost upon us, as you well know. We 

 subjoin the three " extracts," in the order you 

 have sent them.] 



Nesting of the JYuthatch,(Sitta Europoea.)— 

 Whilst walking through a wood in this neigh- 

 borhood on the 18th of April last, I saw a pair 

 of these birds building. They had fixed upon 

 a hole in an ash tree, about twenty feet from the 

 ground, and were contracting it with a plastering 

 of mud. For this they flew to a small pool 

 about fifty yards distant from the tree, and took 

 pieces in their beaks about as big as a bean. This 

 they laid on, and smoothed with their chin. 

 Sometimes, one of them would go inside and re- 

 main for a short time. I suppose for the purpose 

 of smoothing the mud there. They would every 

 now and then leave their task, and chase one ano- 

 ther up the trunk and round the branches of the 

 tree with amazing rapidity ; uttering all the while 

 their flute-like whistle. They both seemed to 

 take an equal share of the labor; and had, like 

 the House Martin, small pieces of straw mixed 

 with the mud, for the purpose of making it 

 bind better. They seemed to be quite at ease 

 on the ground, and hopped about much after the 

 same manner as the Sparrow. The male bird 

 Avas easily distinguishable by his brighter plu- 

 mage.— C. Stdbbs, Henley -upon- Thames. 



[The Nuthatch is a most interesting bird. 

 Some very pleasing facts connected with his 

 natural history, and domestication in a gentle- 

 man's grounds, are given in our First Volume, 

 pages 169, 170.] 



Curious Variety of the Yellow -hammer (Em- 

 beriza citrinella.) — As I frequently observe in 

 "The Naturalist," that you record any unusual 

 variety of plumage in which birds occasionally 

 appear, I have much pleasure in communicating 

 a remarkable change of costume in which I dis^ 

 covered the Yellow-hammer on the 11th of Au- 

 gust, in the island of Gometra, which lies 

 about six miles to the north of Staffa. I visited 

 that district exclusively for the purpose of making 

 myself acquainted with the birds which might 

 be found there; and while standing at the door 

 of Mr. McLean's house, a gentleman whom I am 

 much indebted to for his kindness during my 

 visit, my attention was directed to a bright yel- 

 low bird attempting to alight within eighty yards 

 of me, but was so much beset by a flock of Linnets, 

 (Linaria montana,) that he flew off to some dis- 

 tance. I immediately called the attention of my 

 young friend Mr. Sinclair, who accompanied me 

 jn the excursion ; and requested him to mark well 



till I got my gun, which was the work of a se- 

 cond. I very soon got up to within twenty 

 yards of it, and upon such close examination I 

 was convinced that it was a Canary, which had 

 escaped from Miss McLean, and rather than 

 risk my reputation in bagging such a bird, I re- 

 quested Mr. Sinclair, in the distance, to make 

 inquiry, who assured me it was not. It was 

 with considerable difficulty that I could again 

 get within shot, as some Whinchats (Saxicola 

 rubetra ) were now in full pursuit; and just as 

 he was descending a rocky eminence I shot 

 him, and have preserved the skin to establish 

 the fact of the " Jackdaw in the Peacock's 

 feathers." The following forenoon another was 

 discovered, which Mr. Sinclair and I immedi- 

 ately gave chase to, but, like the former, he 

 appeared to have no friends. The Whinchats 

 were again in full cry, and, after following him 

 over some rocky precipices, he escaped — to die 

 however, the following evening, as Mr. Sinclair 

 had the good fortune to shoot him. — George 

 Donaldson, Gleneripsdale, Loch Sunart. 



[We really must enter our protest here, against 

 the cruelty of shooting every bird that may hap- 

 pen to be "remarkable," either for plumage or 

 singularity of color. The " fortunate holders" of 

 these specimens, relate their butcheries with a 

 degree of gusto that is anything but fascinating. 

 If every one of us who happen to be "remarka- 

 ble" were thus "bagged," perhaps there would 

 be some reform worked as regards the poor harm- 

 less birds. The poor yellow-hammer resembled 

 a Canary, — ergo, he must be shot and " bag- 

 ged!"] 



Instinct of the Toad. — In a small bed of 

 radishes, closely covered by a Herring-net to 

 keep off the Sparrows, a large Toad was seated 

 upon its form several days. The Toad changed 

 its position on the bed sometimes, and had tAvo 

 or three forms, like a Hare. It was frequently 

 removed from under the net to distant parts of 

 the garden, but invariably returned to the radish 

 bed ; and though twice as large as the meshes of 

 the net, it was seen on one occasion in the act of 

 creeping through one of the meshes. Having 

 heard a surprising account of the difficulty of 

 banishing a toad from the place of its choice, 

 the observation of these facts seemed confirmatory 

 of it; and it was resolved by myself and my 

 friends, in whose garden the remarks were made, 

 to put the matter to a severe trial. The garden, 

 which was large, was entirely walled round, ex- 

 cepting a small gate leading into another garden. 

 This garden was also walled round ; but there 

 was a single small hole under the outer door in- 

 to a field. Behind the inner garden wall was a 

 shrubbery; and into this, we took the toad, little 

 expecting to see it again. But to our surprise, it 

 was seated the next day beneath the net on one of 

 its forms. To reach that place, it must have gone 

 through the fence of the shrubbery into a field, 

 then through another fence into a second field; 

 next through the hole under the outer garden door, 

 and lastly through the gate into the inner garden. 

 This well- authenticated fact, so fully confirms a 

 curious story related to me by an elderly relative 

 many years ago, that I would suggest this habit 

 of the toad as an interesting subject for further 



