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Birds. 



redstart's egg, to which he compares his own specimens, but about the same tint as 

 those of the wheatear. The nest, placed in a thorn bush, was much the same as usual, 

 except that, instead of the usual dark-coloured horse-hair for lining, in this case it was 

 white, and there was perhaps rather more white wool used in the nest than is generally 

 seen. This induces me to ask whether the colour of the substance on which the eggs 

 are deposited can in any way affect the colour of the eggs? On the 12th of May this 

 year I had two more eggs of the chaffinch brought to me, exactly the same as regards 

 the ground colour, but differing in having a few minute specks at the larger end : 

 and I recollect taking a nest in Somersetshire, about four years ago, which contained 

 very light-coloured eggs without spots. In addition to these instances of the variety, 

 my friend and neighbour, Mr. Bond, has some eggs of the same description in his 

 collection, so that I think your correspondent, Mr. Danford, must not think them of 

 "rare occurrence." — /. E. Harling ; Kingsbury, Middlesex, July 23, 1862. 



Nesting of the Tree Creeper. — I found a nest of this bird in a wood hen-house on 

 the 13th of June: it was about five feet from the ground, placed between the corner 

 post and the boards, the nest very much compressed, but containing four young birds. 

 I saw the parent birds feed them six times within five minutes ; they flew to the 

 bottom of the house, then crept up to an aperture in the boards to feed their young, 

 and made their exit at another aperture. — Thomas Brunton; Methven Castle, Perth, 

 N.B.; June 30, 1862. 



Occurrence of the Hoopoe at Keynsham. — A fine specimen of a male hoopoe was 

 shot, a few weeks ago, by Mr. Harford Syne, of the Manor House, in this parish. 

 It was seen feeding on a heap of mixed manure near his residence. As it appears to 

 be a rare bird in this part of the country I thought it might be worthy of notice in the 

 'Zoologist.' — John Rutter ; Keynsham, July 17, 1862. 



Migration of Swallows, fyc. — First swallow (Hirundo rustica) observed on the 4th 

 of April : I saw two or three more a few days later. I noticed a yellow wood wren in 

 my garden on the 30th of March, and a redstart (Sylvia phcenicurus) and a wheatear 

 on the 20th of April ; however, the latter, I find, had been seen on the sea-cliffs about 

 a week earlier. On the 8th of April brown linnets were still flying in flocks. — Henry 

 Hadjield; Ventnor, Isle of Wight, April 23, 1862. 



Notes about Magpies. — During the last two years I have kept several magpies, a 

 rook, a Royston crow, a jackdaw, a raven, and a pair of the common gull, running 

 about my garden, which is walled all round. Their wings have of course been kept 

 cut. The magpies, originally three, — called Faith, Hope and Charity, — were 

 increased to seven by the addition of Scrub, Snob, Snap and Snip. Of these, how- 

 ever, three have come to untimely ends ; so that my present number is only four. 

 Perhaps one or two notes about the habits of this family may be interesting. Faith, 

 the first which came, was in many respects a very interesting bird. She was quite 

 tame, and would whistle, bark and talk to perfection. In order to excite these per- 

 formances perfect quietude and solitude were necessary : if any one was in sight the 

 talking ceased. Early in the morning, perched in a holly tree near our bed-room 

 window, many strange conversations were carried on ; these were geuerally imitations 

 of words she had frequently heard used, but were spoken with perfect distinctness. The 

 whistle was varied in its tone and rhythm almost ad libitum, and very curious notes 

 were sometimes heard. The bark is a loud, sudden expletive, generally expressive of 

 anger, and, being something similar to the bark of a dog, we always called it barking. 

 I have said that Faith was very tame. To those whom she knew she was very 



