MISCELLANIES. 
105 
pose of restoring the breed to that royal hunting-ground; but they were all of 
them destroyed during the civil war. A similar attempt has, I believe, been 
lately made in Bere Wood, in Dorsetshire; but one of the Boars having injured 
a valuable Horse belonging to the worthy Nimrod who exhibited this specimen of 
sporting epicurism, he caused them to be destroyed.— Bell s History of British 
Quadrupeds, p. 360. 
Disposition of the Robin Redbreast ( Rubecula familiaris, Blyth.J— 
Although the Robin Redbreast is a most pugnacious creature, yet it is far from 
being destitute of attachment to its kind. One that we caught and caged in No¬ 
vember, 1835, was for several weeks constantly attended by its mate, which seems 
to prove that this bird pairs for life. When any one approached the cage, the 
male departed very unwillingly, and, if wholly excluded from the room in which 
the prisoner was confined, it would utter the most unceasing and piteous wailings. 
After some time, however, the visits became gradually less frequent, and at length 
ceased altogether.— Ed. 
Period of arrival of the Garden Fauvet (Ficedula hortensis). —I have 
noticed, for many seasons past, that although some Garden Fauvets (or 
“ Garden Warblers”) always arrive about the close of April, we continue to 
receive a constant accession to their numbers till the beginning of June, I par¬ 
ticularly observed this last year, and now again at the present time; it having 
been a subject of remark with me, all the spring, that in the delightful wild 
garden I have already mentioned (p. 77), there were but few visitants of this 
species; but this morning I saw no less than three, which were singing away 
merrily.— Edward Blyth, Tooting, Surrey, June 9, 1836. 
The Song of the Missel Thrush (Turdus viscivorus, Linn.). —I have lately 
heard the song of the Missel Thrush; its notes are not much unlike those of the 
Garden Ouzel {Merida vulgaris, Ray), but neither so varied nor so mellow. I 
now find that I have repeatedly heard this bird, but had always supposed it to be 
the Garden Ouzel. I cannot be mistaken in this circumstance, having approached 
several birds sufficiently near clearly to identify them. The top of a Fir tree is 
a favourite place for uttering its song.—J. D. Salmon, Thetford, Norfolk, June 6, 
1836. 
Preservation of Zoological Specimens. —I have often noticed, with regret, 
both in public and private museums, in this country, that the damp was making 
fearful inroads among the zoological specimens; and, as I learned, while in France, 
some time since, a most simple and efficacious remedy for that evil, 1 beg to sub¬ 
mit it to you for the benefit of your readers and the public. A glazed flower-pan, 
of the size of a dessert plate, placed in the cases, at intervals of eight or ten feet, 
and filled with quicklime, will rapidly imbibe all damps, and will only require 
renewing when it is found that the lime is completely saturated.--As a preven- 
No. 8, Vol. II. p 
