20S 



THE NATURALIST. 



L. morio, var. testudinea, Sehcer. 

 L. morio, var. coracina, Schcer. 

 L. atrobrunea, Schcero 

 L. confluens, Schcer. ' 

 Steriocaulon nanrnn, Ach. 

 Cladonia gracilis, var. subulata. 

 C. pyxidata, 



Endocarpon pusillum, var. Hedwigii, Sohcer.. 



Loxid curvirostra, In vol. i. there ap- 

 peared a notice of mine concerning a living 

 specimen of the Cross-bill X. curvirostrayL. , 

 that I then possessed, and I there laid 

 some stress on the fact, that among London 

 Bird-salesmen, there existed an idea that 

 this bird assumed a different colour after 

 each moult. I have had the opportunity 

 of bringing my own personal observation in 

 witness to this strange feature in the cha- 

 racter of this species. My Crossbill did 

 not remain long with me, but shortly after 

 my notice appeared in the Naturalist, I 

 presented him to a lady at Cookham, who 

 placed him in a large aviary, where he has 

 since remained. When I first bought him, 

 his plumage was bright orange, sparingly 

 tinted with green shades. In October, 

 1864, he cast his feathers and his new coat 

 was all green, very much resembling the 

 female in appearance, with the exception of 

 the head, which had a yellowish streak 

 extending from the bottom of the eye 

 to the shoulder, and from the middle of 

 the back to the tail, a yellow ring took 

 the place of the orange, which had been so 

 predominant, when I first saw him. He 

 has now just recovered from his late moult, 

 and his plumage is now mostly green, 

 with a bright yellow mark extending from 

 the eye to the extremity of the occiput, 

 while the yellow streak from the eye to the 

 shoulders is now black, and his back is a 



beautiful yellow from the middle to the 

 extremity of the tail-coverts. While on 

 the subject of the Crossbill, I may men- 

 tion an anecdote I have lately heard, which 

 is supposed to account for the cross bill. It 

 is said, that these birds, when our Saviour 

 hung upon the cross, supplied him with 

 water, which they brought in their beaks> 

 and that for doing this, they were to be 

 distinguished from all other birds by 

 their bills, and the cross was to be to 

 posterity a memorial of their pious service. 

 This is evidently an old legend, the cross 

 bill of the bird being peculiarly adapted 

 for procuring food, which consists chiefly 

 of the seeds from pine cones. The' 

 specimen at Cookham sings very nicely*, 

 the note being soft and flute -like, and 

 he climbs round the wires of the 

 aviary after the manner of Parrots. 

 He seems of an agreable temperament, 

 never interfering with the other denizens 

 of the aviary, which consist of two gold- 

 finches and several canaries. "R. B. Shaepe, 

 186, Strand, W.C. 



The Quail. — Coturnix vulgaris. — On Sep- 

 tember 25th, we were out partridge shooting 

 and fell in with a Quail which we followed 

 up and after very little trouble it wa& 

 shot by my father. On examination it 

 proved to be a young bird in excellent plu- 

 mage, although rather damaged by the- 

 shot ; however I skinned and stufi'ed it' 

 carefully, and with a little trouble managed 



