MISCELLANY. 
327 
It is a fine object to observe the female of this large bird seated fearlessly on her 
nest, her long tail projecting upwards, and her great and mild black eye watching 
confidently the movements of those at hand. We stood for several minutes in 
admiration of one in the cleft of a low dwarf Apple-tree in the garden; and, 
being desirous of seeing the nest and eggs, it was not without almost pushing her 
off her nest that I could induce her to quit it for a few minutes, to gratify my 
curiosity. 
I have since seen a nest of the same bird in Kent; but in the districts where 
the large Mistletoe Thrush is found, it requires some care to distinguish between 
the two; for both birds build, in the same situations, a grassy nest ; and it is 
only on the wing, or in the hand, that the female can be readily distinguished. 
The plumage of the male birds, as well as their mode of flight and note, is suffi¬ 
ciently distinct.— George Fairholme, in the Magazine of Natural History^ 
No. VII., N. S., July, 1837. 
Mortality among Birds. —In your number for June (p. 163), I noticed an 
extract from a Lausanne journal, giving an account of a singular mortality among 
the feathered tribes in the neighbourhood of Soleure. The following somewhat 
similar occurrence took place probably about the same time. Whilst botanizing 
on the 3rd and 4th of June, at Middleton Teesdale, Durham, I observed in 
various places, amongst the Ling on the Moors, a considerable number of dead 
moorfowl, one or two of which were still warm, remarkably full in the crop, and 
apparently in a good and healthy state, which they of course would not have 
been had they died of hunger, or the inclemency of the late winter. The 
guide attributed it to a Worm, a disease to which he said they were liable. I 
did not dissect any of them,and therefore cannot confirm or disprove his assertions.. 
The birds had been particularly sluggish on the wing, but at the time I was 
there they were very swift, and often saluted us with their sudden rise and crow 
as we brushed through the heather. The mortality appears to have been con¬ 
fined to the higher districts, as I am unable to learn that anything of the kind 
has occurred in the lower. Some have attributed it to a deficiency of sand, 
owing to the long continuance of snow on the mountains.—E., York, Aug. 8, 1837. 
Robin Redbreast (Uuhecula familiaris) with white Wings. —The seventh 
number of your work, for April (p. 58), contains an account of a singular mal¬ 
formation in the mandibles of the Redbreast (Uuhecula familiaris). Perhaps 
the case alluded to is unique; but the Redbreast is a species much liable to 
variation. I have seen them nearly white. Last summer (1836) I observed 
one in this parish which had the primaries in both wings snow-white. I lost 
sight of it during the winter, but have again seen it several times during the 
summer.—R. P. Alington, Swinhope House, Lincolnshire, July 15, 1837. 
fThe bird mentioned by our correspondent was singularly fortunate in remaining 
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