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Birds. 



not have stretched her head and neck for the purpose of depositing an egg. This idea 

 is as old as the time of Le Vaillant, and all that was needed to demonstrate its truth 

 was the actual discovery that the cuckoo has power to carry its eggs in its heak or 

 throat. It so happened that I was present at a meeting of the Dublin University 

 Zoological Association some years ago, when the fact of this discovery was announced 

 in a paper by Professor Kinahan, and established to the satisfaction of every one pre- 

 sent. He actually squeezed the egg out of the throat of a living cuckoo, shot upon 

 the wing. The account was published in more than one form at the time, but must 

 J suppose, have escaped either the eye or the memory of the editor of the ' Zoologist;' 

 so I doubt not that he will be glad to see it produced again for the benefit of 

 his readers. T quote the following from the ' Natural History Review,' vol. 2 : Pro- 

 ceedings of Societies, p. 25 : — " At Clondalkin, on the 17th June, 1848, I had, while 

 in company with my friend Dr. W. Haughton, the pleasure of having the truth of 

 Le Vaillant's theory, concerning the manner in which the cuckoo deposits its egg in 

 its future niches, entirely confirmed. My friend succeeded in winging a female 

 cuckoo as she was rising; she fell into a ditch, owing to the depth of which several 

 minutes elapsed before we could get her out. Having obtained the bird, I proceeded 

 to kill her, by pressing on her breast, having my thumb on the cavity formed by the 

 os furcatum, when I felt setnething slip from under my thumb, with a gurgling sound. 

 Dr. Haughton, attracted by the sound, turned at the same moment, and we both saw 

 an egg in the act of falling to the ground, from whence I picked it up, perfectly un- 

 injured. This egg agrees with all descriptions I could obtain, and on being shown to 

 Dr. Ball, he at once recognized it as a cuckoo's. On dissection, by Professor Allman, 

 the bird proved to be a young female, and had in her ovary two full-grown eggs, one 

 ready to pass into the oviduct. No remains of eggs could be detected in her stomach, 

 even when examined with a powerful microscope. Full details may be found in the 

 Appendix to 'Thompson's Birds,' p. 442. The egg and the skin are in the collection 

 of the Dublin Natural History Society." I have quoted Professor Kinahan's own 

 words, and I do not think anything can be more clear and satisfactory than the 

 account he gives. I do not see how any one, however sceptical, can set aside the 

 facts thus detailed. To say that the occurrence was accidental would be absurd ; for 

 what accident could induce a cuckoo to have, contrary to its habits, an egg of its own, 

 whole and uninjured, in its throat when on the wing? I hope that if any ornitholo- 

 gist who may read this note should know of any facts, tending to confirm the above, 

 he will not neglect to bring them forward. — A. R. Hogan ; Puddlestone, Dorchester, 

 February, 1862 



Occurrence of Caprimulgus ruficollis in England. — On the 6th October, so far 

 back as 1856, I obtained a fresh-killed specimen of this rare European goatsucker, of 

 Mr. Pape, game dealer, of this town. It was shot the previous day at Killing-worth, 

 near Newcastle. I could not determine the sex from dissection, but I think it is most 

 probably a male, as the first primaries have each a spot upon their inner webs, and the 

 first two spots are white. I have delayed until now making this announcement, for I 

 found, on comparison, that the bird in question differed slightly from a Hungarian spe- 

 cimen in my collection, and I was consequently anxious to see others before doing so. 

 I have now had an opportunity of referring to a specimen in the British Museum, and 

 find that it quite agrees with my bird. 1 have, therefore, no longer any hesitation in 

 stating that it is the true Caprimulgus ruficollis of authors ; and I have muth pleasure 

 in adding this fine species to the British list of occasional visitors, though I am far from 



