Birds. 



6563 



an unnatural kind), it soon gained the dislike and ill will of its master, became 

 neglected and was starved to death. The ovaries were considerably developed, but it 

 had not assumed its fully adult plumage, if I am correct in supposing that the breast 

 should have lost its brown markings, and that the shoulder, instead of being rusty 

 brown, and the feathers slightly edged wilh buff, should in the adult be shining 

 bluish black, as are the top, the head, occiput and tail-feathers of this specimen. 

 Again, the back of the neck of this bird is bare, and the feathers on the base of neck 

 in front are elongated as in the adult, but the outer web of the first quill-feather is 

 buff-coloured, and the wing-coverts are rich deep brown. — R. Drane ; Cardiff, 

 May 18, 1859. 



Dates of the Arrival of Migratory Birds. — The swallows appeared partially here 

 about the 7th of April, a very hot day, but disappeared in a couple of days, as if fan- 

 cying they had made a mistake, on the change of temperature, with bitter cold north- 

 east winds ; these birds reappeared on the 29th and 30th of April. I have not yet 

 seen a swift. On the 7th of April I heard the chiffchaff. On the 24th the 

 blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) chanted his short but melodious song. On Sunday, the 

 1st of May, I heard the nightingale, but as it was a cold evening, wilh strong north- 

 east winds, he only gave out three times " sweet jug ! * and then closed ; it was about 

 5 p.m., in a small covert near the turnpike on the Gloucester road. The cuckoo ap- 

 peared and was heard first here on the 26th of April, and was not heard again until 

 this morning, when I heard two in different directions at the same time; this 

 day being 9° Fahr., milder than yesterday, with a fine warm sun. — H. W. Newman ; 

 Lansdown, Cheltenham, May 6, 1859. 



Inquiry respecting a Bird's Nest. — I am rather perplexed by a nest with three eggs 

 which was brought to me three days since. I had employed a person to get 

 a few eggs for me, and the result of his first expedition was two nests; one, which I 

 had no doubt about, a ring ouzel's; the other he pronounced to be a missel thrush's. 

 I disputed the fact ; but he said that he had seen the old bird fly off, and it was a 

 " May thrush." The nest was in the fork of a stunted Scotch fir growing on the moor, 

 was composed of coarse grass externally, twined about with dry rushes and flexible 

 roots and longer pieces of grass; inside, lined with finer grasses, and between a 

 walling of clay. The second nest had a good deal of ling and moss among its mate- 

 rials, was taken from the ground, and was twice as heavy, with clay, as the former, 

 and altogether unlike it in colour, compactness, general neatness and finish, inde- 

 pendently of dissimilarity of material. This, an undoubted ring ouzel's nest, 

 contained four eggs; two of which resembled, in a degree, the missel thrush's egg, as 

 to shade and markings; the other two might rank with Mr. Hewitson's original. 

 They were all equally " hardsat," and I had some trouble in getting three out of the 

 four safely blown. The eggs in the other nest were, all three, perfectly fresh, 

 showing there had been no accidental confusion of eggs; but their markings were 

 not at all like those of any missel thrush's eggs I have ever seen, and, besides, they 

 were all much less than the eggs in the ring ouzel's nest, very distinctly less. Two 

 out of the three precisely resembled, in colour and markings, the two darker ring 

 ouzel's eggs; the other was slightly lighter in shade. My question is, what nest and 

 eggs are these ? They are not blackbirds', certainly ; they are not, I feel certain, a 

 missel thrush's; and, I think, the position of the nest, its nature and materials, pre- 

 clude the idea of its being a ring ouzel's. The man who brought me them is a cha- 

 racter in his way ; very keen to accompany me on any shooting expedition ; a 



