MISCELLANIES. 
107 
dart up into the air after an insect, and often approached within a few feet of 
where we were standing. Although we watched it and followed it up the stream 
nearly a quarter of an hour, we could not discover that it had a companion, there 
being no other birds about the place, except a pair of Longtailed Tits and a few 
Chaff Finches. The only note the Warbler uttered was low and short. We 
watched the motions of the beautiful little creature with peculiar delight, as being 
the first harbinger of an unusually late spring; and when, in returning home, ^ 
severe and protracted hail-storm overtook us, we remembered the lovely green and 
yellow Warbler we had left alone amongst the leafless bushes with a pang.— Ed. 
Habits of the Sand Pigeon ( Columba arenea^ Salmon). —I have lately been 
asked if I can suggest a better name than Stock or Wood Pigeon for the Columba 
oenas of authors; the provincial name in this district is Sand Pigeon, which I 
cannot but consider fully as appropriate as Bank Swallow, applied in consequence 
of the situation the bird selects for nidification. Those who live in -woody dis- 
stricts, however, might object to this specific designation, as the bird would then, 
in all probability, breed in woods, but of this I am not certain. I am inclined to 
suspect that the species is very local in its distribution in this county during 
the breeding season, and that it is only towards its autumnal migration 
that it is seen in very great numbers in the woodlands. I have known 
an instance of its breeding in the top-most branches of the Scotch Fir, in a 
similar manner to the Ring Pigeon {Columba palumbus)^ which is a true 
arboreal species, and might with greater propriety be called Wood Pigeon. In¬ 
deed the latter is given by Selby as a provincial name, by which, also, it is 
always known in this county. If it be found necessary to make any alteration 
in the nomenclature of the British Pigeons, I should be disposed to name them 
thus:—Wood Pigeon, Columba palumbus; Sand Pigeon, C. arenea; Rock 
Pigeon, C.livia. —J. D. Salmon, Thetford^ Norfolk^ Dec. 3, 1836. 
Organization of the Common Cuckoo {Cuculus canorus., Linn.). —Mr. J. L. 
Levison, of Doncaster, informs us that he considers the extraordinary habits of 
the Cuckoo, as regards propagation, to result rather from a deficiency in the organ 
of Constructiveness, than from any want of Philoprogenitiveness, which latter 
propensity he states to be amply developed in this interesting bird. The habits 
of the species certainly tend to confirm this view of the matter; for it has been 
observed that the Cuckoo frequently returns to the nest in which it has deposited 
its egg; and the anxiety of the bird to obtain a proper place for the reception of 
its egg, is decidedly considerable. On the other hand, that the Cuckoo has never 
made the remotest attempt at building a nest, is an incontrovertible fact. Mr. 
Levison’s observations on the development of the head of the Cuckoo, were 
alluded to by that gentleman in a conversation with his friend the late Dr. 
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