8 
HABITS OF THE NATTERJACK. 
leaves this country early in the summer ; I have imagined that on account of the 
shortness of the time which the Cuckoo spends in this country, it would not be 
able to rear its own young, and hence the economy of leaving the egg in the nest 
of another bird. 
In my school-boy days I once put five young Starlings, which I had taken 
from a hole in a tree, into the nest of another pair of Starlings, which had built 
in a Pigeon-cove and had four young ones. The nine birds were reared, but the 
chirping was incessant, and the labour of the old birds very great. 
The greatest boldness I ever witnessed in a parent bird was shewn by a hen 
Partridge, which, on being surprised with her young covey, dashed like the 
domestic hen at a spaniel, and fairly drove the Dog away, and who came cower¬ 
ing to my heels. The beautiful bird, fired by her maternal feelings, came to 
within a few yards of me, and then flew away to her mate, who had decoyed her 
young away into safety. What a contrast this appears to the actions of the 
Cuckoo! but the laws of Nature are as unerring in the actions of each for the 
propagation of their species, and the instinct that teaches the Ostrich to leave her 
eggs in the sand, is as all-sufficient as the instinct that causes the Tomtit to build 
so warm and close a nest that all the heat of her little body may be retained for 
her eggs. 
Maidstone , Nov. 1837. 
HABITS OF THE NATTERJACK (Nana rubetra , Linn.) 
By R. Tudor, Esq. 
Dear Sir, —I have received the following very interesting communication 
respecting the habits of the Natterjack, from R. Tudor, Esq., of Bootle (an 
accurate and intelligent naturalist), which, if you think worthy of being inserted 
in your magazine, you are at liberty to publish. 
Being an observer of this curious and interesting animal, I beg leave to forward 
to you a few particulars relative to its habits. The Natterjack is a reptile 
intermediate between the Frog and the Toad, and is found in great abundance at 
Bootle. Turton’s description of the animal is, “ Body about two inches and a 
quarter long, tubercled, one inch and a quarter broad, above of a dirty yellow 
clouded with brown, beneath paler with black spots, back with a yellow line ; 
fore feet four-toed ; hind feet five-toed and a little webbed.” Its time of spawn¬ 
ing is much later in the spring than that of the Common Frog, being about the 
latter end of April. It is singular to observe the impregnated eggs strewed 
about the shore after expulsion, in clusters bearing a great resemblance to strings 
of black beads, extending many yards in length, and convoluted in every possible 
