before the Zoological Society, (See Magazine of Nat. Hist. New Ser.
vol. i. p. 638.) has demonstrated from the developed form of the
olfactory nerves, that this bird must possess an acute sense of smell.
It was mentioned on the same evening, in a communication from Mr.
Sells, that on two occasions, persons in the West Indies having died,
and their bodies not being buried till they smelt offensively, these
birds congregated in numbers on the roof of the house. This instance
appears quite conclusive, as it was certain, from the construction of
the buildings, that they must have gained the intelligence by the
sense of smell alone, and not by that of sight. It would appear from
the various facts recorded, that carrion-feeding hawks possess both
senses, in a very high degree.
Footnote 4:
Voyage dans l’Amérique Méridionale, vol. iii. p. 24.
Footnote 5:
In this work, whenever the particular name of any colour is given, or
it is placed within commas, it implies, that it is taken from
comparison with Patrick Syme’s edition of Werner’s Nomenclature of
Colours.
Footnote 6:
_Mileago Chimango_ of this work.
Footnote 7:
Novorum Actorum Academiæ Cæsariæ, Leopol. vol. xvi. p. 62.
Observationes Zoologicas, F. J. Meyenii.
Footnote 8:
Tom. iii. p. 162.
Footnote 9:
Voyage dans l’Amérique Meridionale Partie, Oiseaux, p. 52.
Footnote 10:
Perhaps to this genus belong _Muscicapa thamnophiloides_ and
_cinerea_, figured by Spix, in his Aves, pl. 26. f. 1 and 2. _G. R.
Gray._
Footnote 11:
Molina, in his account of Chile, attributes this nest, I believe,
through an error, to _Mimus thenca_.
Footnote 12:
Journal of Researches during the Voyage of the Beagle, p. 60.
Footnote 13:
This genus, and the following sub-genera, were named by Mr. Gould at a
meeting of the Zool. Soc. Jan. 10 1837, p. 4. of Proceedings.
Footnote 14:
Remarks on the Plumage of Birds, Charlsworth’s Mag. of Nat. History,
vol. i. p. 480.
Footnote 15:
Fauna Borealis, Birds, p. 278. Dr. Richardson states that the egg is
only seven lines and a half in length. I presume the measure of eight
lines, instead of twelve to the inch, must in this case have been
used. I am much indebted to the kindness of Mr. Yarrell for lending me
an egg of the _Molothrus pecoris_, forming part of a collection of
North American eggs in his possession.
Footnote 16:
Wilson’s American Ornithology, vol. ii. p. 162.
Footnote 17:
Magazine of Zoology and Botany, vol. i. p. 217.
Footnote 18:
See Azara, vol. iii. p. 170.
Footnote 19:
It appears that the eggs in the same nest with that of the _Molothrus
pecoris_, are turned out by the parent birds before they are hatched,
owing to the egg of the _M. pecoris_ being hatched in an unusually
short time; in the case of the young cuckoo, as is well known, the
young bird itself throws out its foster-brothers. Mr. C. Fox, however,
(Silliman’s American Journal, vol. xxix. p. 292), relates an instance
of three young sparrows having been found alive with a Molothrus.
Footnote 20:
Humboldt, Pers. Narr. vol. v. part 1. p. 352. Cook’s Third Voyage,
vol. ii. and Beechey’s Voyage.
Footnote 21:
Cowley’s Voyage, p. 10, in Dampier’s Collection of Voyages.
Footnote 22:
Dampier’s Voyage, vol. i. p. 103. For some further observations on the
tameness of the birds on this and some other islands, see my Journal
of Researches, p. 475.
Footnote 23:
In Hearne’s Travels in North America, (p. 383), it is stated that the
Northern Indians shoot the varying hare, which will not bear to be
approached in a straight line, in an analogous manner, by walking
round it in a spire. The middle of the day is the best time, when the
shadow of the hunter is not very long.
Footnote 24:
Sturt’s Travels, vol. ii. p. 74.
Footnote 25:
A Gaucho assured me that he had once seen a snow-white, or Albino
variety, and that it was a most beautiful bird.
Footnote 26:
It appears, also, from Mr. Gould’s late most interesting discoveries
regarding the habits of the _Talegalla Lathami_, (an Australian bird,
one of the Rasores,) that several females lay in one nest, and that
the eggs are hatched by the heat engendered by a mass of decaying
vegetable matter. It appears that the males assist the females in
scratching together the leaves and earth, of which the great conical
mound or nest is composed.
Footnote 27:
Burchell’s Travels, vol. i. p. 280.
Footnote 28:
Azara, vol. iv. p. 173.
Footnote 29:
Lichtenstein, however, (Travels, vol. ii. p. 25.) states, that the
hens begin to sit when ten or twelve eggs are laid, and that they
afterwards continue laying. He affirms that by day the hens take turns
in sitting, but that the cock sits all night.
Footnote 30:
The naturalists in Lutke’s voyage, vol. iii. p. 255, seem to consider
a gull, which they obtained at Concepcion, as the _Larus Franklinii_
of North America.
Footnote 31:
I am much indebted to Mr. Eyton for these observations, which greatly
add to the value of the previous descriptions.
Footnote 32:
Since the above was in type, I have had, through the kindness of Mr.
Gould, an opportunity of examining _Menura lyra_, and find my former
supposition to be correct; but neither of these genera can be placed
among the gallinaceous birds where the latter bird has been arranged
by some authors.
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