Note on the Young o/Fregilus graculus. 37 
(2.) Note on the Red BUI and Legs of the Young of the Fregilus p;ra- 
culus, the Chough or Red-legged Crow. By John Alex. Smith, M.D. 
Some time ago I read a communication from the Rev. 
Thomas B. Bell of Leswalt, entitled, " Notes from the neigh- 
bourhood of Stranraer/'* in which he gave details of the 
habits of this locally distributed bird, v^hich occurs rather 
abundantly in his neighbourhood. The bird breeds there 
in considerable numbers in the cliffs of the sea coast ; and 
at my request Mr Bell kindly undertook to settle the appa- 
rently doubtful question as to the colour of the beak and 
legs of the young birds, whether they were red or black — a 
matter of fact which appeared to be still undecided among 
ornithologists. 
Macgillivray, in his British Birds," states that — " The 
young are said to have their first plumage black, but without 
the gloss and purple tints of the adult birds. The bill and 
feet are stated by M. Temminck to be at first black, but 
Montagu affirms that they are red from the commencement. 
I have not seen a bird in its first feathers, and it does not 
appear that any recent British writer has had an opportunity 
of deciding the question." 
Yarrell mentions that the bird of the first year has the legs 
orange red, but says nothing about the colour of the bill. 
Mr Bell informs me, as the result of his examination — 
what indeed might have been expected — that both the bill 
and feet are red in the young birds in the nest, the colour 
not being perhaps quite so bright as it afterwards becomes. 
Through his kindness I exhibit a specimen of the bird, 
taken at Larbrax, in the parish of Leswalt, Wigtonshire. 
Thursday, February 26, 1863.— James M'Bain, M.D., R.N., 
President, in the Chair. 
Alfred Brett, Esq., Lecturer on Materia Medica, New Veterinary 
College, Edinburgh, was elected a member of the Society, 
The following donations to the library were laid on the table, and 
thanks voted to the Donors : — 
1. Annals of the Botanical Society of Canada, Vol. I., Part 3, 1862. — 
* Proceedings, vol. ii. p. 143. 
