648 DESTRUCTION OF BEES, 
and well, and on its being brought on shore, was, as a last resource, 
tried with worms, these were put into a shallow receiver, slightly co- 
vered with earth and placed in a room, where the bird was permitted 
to run loose. It soon discovered the worms by thrusting its beak 
into the dish, and having secured one, was observed to throw it into 
the air, and in its descent, recaught and swallowed it, — the same pro- 
cess took place with a second and a third. — This bird has, I under- 
stood, the peculiar faculty of expanding its comb, whenever it alights, 
like a fan, which in its flight is invariably colapsed. 
Goldfinches migrate in great numbers in the spring, across the 
straits of Gibraltar from Barbary to Spain, and return in the autumn. 
Partridges are found in great numbers, in the immediate neigh- 
bourhood of Tetuan on the south side of the Straits ; these are beau- 
tiful birds with red legs, and are similar in every respect to those 
found on the rock of Gibraltar. 
HiJO DE ESPANA. 
ARTICLE XVII. 
ON THE DESTRUCTION OF BEES BY TOADS. 
BY MR. G. BUCKLAND. 
The following account of the destruction of Bees, by the common 
Toad, (Berfo Communis) was sent me some time since by a friend, 
in the accuracy of whose observation I can confide. Should you deem 
it of sufficient interest to occupy a space in your Register, it is much 
at your service ; and I hope that it will be the means of eliciting fur- 
ther information from some of your correspondents. 
G. BuCKLAND. 
Benenden, Kent, June II th, 1832. 
"As I was fetching some water from a pond, on the side of which 
grew a plant, called Water Betony, I observed a bee gathering from 
its flowers. Being curious to know whether the little industrious la- 
bourer came for honey, or merely to collect on its legs for the pur- 
pose of breeding, I observed it very attentively, and as it descended 
to the lower part of the flowers, I felt somewhat surprised that it had 
escaped my observation. While reflecting on this circumstance, 
another bee alighted on the top of the same plant, and proceeding, 
like the former one downwards, I heard a little smack, and observed 
