CHAPTER OF MISCELLANIES. 
16 
water—which was in all probability increased by her recent immersion—-that she 
would sooner have perished than have trusted herself to that element.—J. D, 
Salmon, Tketford^ Norfolk^ April 22, 1837. 
Capture of the Jer Falcon (Falco Islandicus) in Yorkshire. —In a 
former communication (p. 53) I stated that a Jer Falcon had been shot at Storth- 
waite, near this city. I thought it had been so, as it was shot by one 
Storthwaite man, and brought to me by another. I now find that it was shot 
in the adjoining parish of Sutton-upon-Derwent; it is still alive, and seems 
likely to do well.-^THOMAS Allis, York, 4 mo. 26, 1837- 
Cunning op the Sparrow Hawk ( Accipiter nisus). —A few months ago we 
observed a female Sparrow Hawk hovering a few yards above the ground, in a 
stubble-field near Selby bar, and at last alight on the earth, but in such a manner 
as to lead us to suppose that it was returning to finish its feast upon some un¬ 
fortunate animal it had previously left there. We immediately made up to the 
spot, upon which we kept our eyes all the time; but, strange to say, when we 
arrived there, no bird was to be seen ! The probability is, that the Hawk must 
have made off with its quarry unperceived, by passing along a kind of trench— 
of which there were several, intersecting the field in various directions—leading 
into the adjoining enclosure.—The habits of this bird are for the most part bold 
and open, and the secretive manoeuvre noticed above is certainly a remarkable 
deviation from its usual disposition.— Ed. 
Shower op Worms. —An extraordinary phenomenon occurred a short time 
since in the parish of Bamford-Speke, in Devonshire. During a snow-storm, a. 
large number of black worms, each about three-fourths of an inch in length, fell 
in the village and the neighbouring fields. They are different from the Turnip- 
worm, and are altogether unknown to the agriculturists of the neighbourhood. 
Mortality among Birds. —The following curious statements rest upon the 
authority of a Lausanne journal. During the last fortnight great numbers of 
sick and dead birds, particularly Thrushes, have been found in the fields of. 
Soleure. An inflammation of the spleen is the cause, and the disease is attri¬ 
buted to some acid exhalations from the earth which are said to produce the 
grippe. All the Sparrows and Finches, it is added, have deserted the infected 
districts; and in several parts of Switzerland domestic animals have been attacked.' 
in a similar way.— Literary Gazette. 
Notes op the Common Cuckoo ( Cuculus canorus, Linn.). —Have you ever . 
noticed that sometimes the Cuckoo has a trisyllabic note, as if echo answered 
thus— cue coo coo ? I have several times remarked it, especially this year, and 
believe it is a third note that is uttered. The Cuckoo has been singularly sonor¬ 
ous this year. One awoke me the other day between one and two in the morning 
in the field close to my house, continuing a Jong .time. Another repeated the 
No. 9 , Vol. 11. 
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