MISCELLANY. 
107 
less compelled by the severity of the winter. The Wild Swan has been poetically 
called “ the peaceful monarch of the lake,” because he does not prey upon any 
of the feathered tribe, living wholly upon roots, seeds, and small insects, and 
fears no foe that wings the sky. From these birds making their appearance in 
our country at this period of the year, it no doubt indicates that winter has com¬ 
menced in their northern home with much intensity, and consequently there is 
some probability that we shall experience a very hard and inclement season. In 
the winter of 1835, three of these gigantic birds were killed at a single shot by a 
person in the parish of Ochiltree.— Ayr Observer, Dec,, 1837. 
Addition to the Lancashire Fauna. —Mr. Scaife states, in the Magazine of 
Natural History for October, 1837, that two specimens of Totanus ochropus [[the 
Greenshank Sandpiper.— Ed.] were shot near Blackburn, in Lancashire, in July 
and August, 1837- This species was omitted in my “Catalogue of Birds found 
in Lancashire” (Yol. II., p. 349).— Peter Rylands, Bewsey House, near 
Warrington, Dec. 26, 1837. 
The Season. —Last week, a Strawberry, full ripe, was gathered in the gar¬ 
den of Mr. John Holme, Bellvue, West Derby.— Preston Observer. —As a proof 
of the mildness of the season, a Gooseberry bush in the garden of Mr. Bothwell^ 
Greenbank, is covered not only with buds, but exhibits some well-formed ber¬ 
ries. Many of the bushes in the garden are in the same state. Such a circum¬ 
stance at this season is almost, we believe, without a precedent.— Aberdeen He¬ 
rald. —A Robin’s nest with four eggs has been recently discovered in a flue in the 
county Lunatic Asylum. The nest, with three of the eggs, is now to be seen at 
the Cross Keys Inn.— Bedford Beacon. —A Whin Chat’s nest with twelve eggs 
was found in Carrock Fell on Christmas-day by two boys.—Cowslips were last 
week plucked in the neighbourhood of Norton, Yorkshire, and a Fig-tree at 
the Lord Seaham Inn, near Hartlepool, is now bearing fruit, being the third 
crop.—A Salisbury correspondent of a local paper relates that whilst walking in 
his garden on Christmas-day he observed a very beautiful yellow Butterfly, as 
full of activity as in the month of June.— Doncaster Gazette, Jan. 5, 1838.— 
[On the very day after the publication of the preceding paragraph in the Don¬ 
caster Gazette, the thermometer fell, according to Mr. Murphy’s prophecy, below 
the freezing point, and continued to sink for a fortnight, with little intermission, 
at once blighting the hopes of those who, from age, illness, or other circumstances, 
had both desired and anticipated an extraordinarily mild winter. All indica¬ 
tions of the mildness of the season have, accordingly, entirely vanished as regards 
the animal and vegetable kingdoms.— Ed.] 
The Sense of Taste in Birds. —The seat of every sense is variously modi¬ 
fied to suit the habits of the animal. Those birds which obtain their food by 
VOL. hi.—no. xvii. Q 
