104 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



of the year and so near dirty Sheffield. — A. E. Hall, Norbury, Pitsmoor,. 

 Sheffield, 



Note ox a seemingly Permanent Variety of Eupithecia T^niata, 

 H, var. Ciners!, Mihe. — In September, 1887, Mr. Curzon shewed me a 

 series of an Eupithecia he had taken in Morayshire, so unlike any Eupithecia 

 I recollected at the moment that I asked him to let me see them again when 

 my mind was at peace (the sight of all his season's captures of interesting 

 and variably forms not tending that way), in response to my request, he gave 

 me two from the seven (?) specimens taken, and these I have since carefully 

 examined and find they are very large cinereous specimens of E. tceniata, H. 

 As all the specimens were large and cinereous in colour, the usual striae hardly 

 perceptable as compared with the bright slightly rufous-ochry colour and 

 markings of our more southern specimen, I have named them var. Cinerce. — 

 C. S. Gregson. 



Bigamy in Birds. — Now is the great time for studying the breeding 

 habits of birds, and I should like to call the attention of the readers of the 

 Young Naturalist to the question — Which of our birds are habitually biga- 

 mous ? All ornithologists are agreed that many species, especially in the 

 Gallinacei, are polygamous in a state of nature ; but few persons seem to 

 have taken note of the bigamous habits of many species. I have seen it 

 stoutly denied that any birds are in the habit of having two mates at once, 

 but with this statement I would join issue. My attention was called to the 

 subject this morning, by seeing three jackdaws flying round the spire of one 

 of the churches in this town. Each bird had building material in its mouth, 

 and all entered the same hole in the spire. I watched for some time and 

 they all came out and flew off together. Now jackdaws are far from common 

 in the middle of Bolton, it seems to me that these three form one household. 

 Some years ago when 1 was living at Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire, I could se& 

 from my bed-room window a hole under the eaves of a stable, where every 

 spring there was a starling's nest, and to this nest there were always two hens 

 and one cock. I have noticed the same thing among swallows and martins; 

 and among the lapwings it seems to be quite the general rule to have two 

 hens to a nest. The cry of the lapwing in the breeding season, is quite dif- 

 ferent from that of females, being longer, and consisting of the syllables, 

 " pee-oo-weet-a-weet, pee-oo-weet " ; and I think that if. any one will take 

 the trouble to notice these birds they will see that they go in threes, one of 

 the three having this long cry. I believe the reed-bunting is also bigamous, 

 and the rook sometimes. I should be glad to hear the opinion of others on 

 this matter. — H. H. Corbett, Derby Street, Bolton. 



