Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 1 (1877).djvu/407

Rh was proved to be a wild and genuine migrant because its plumage showed no signs of confinement, for the Purple Gallinule is one of those species which would least show marks of captivity, and to which much greater space and freedom are accorded than to many others. Even were this not the case, I can recall to memory many instances of birds in confinement in perfect plumage; and to cite but one, I may mention a young Golden Eagle taken from the nest on the 4th May, and killed, in default of a purchaser, by one of my Spanish collectors, in September, in which nearly every feather is like satin—a beauty never approached by any wild bird I ever saw, and I think the experience of my friend Mr. E. Hargitt, who now possesses it, will confirm mine. As for escaping from an enclosure, or anything short of an absolute cage, few birds could do so with greater facility, for this Gallinule can climb like a cat, whilst its skulking habits might enable it to remain unnoticed till all traces, if any, of captivity had passed away, and even till the clipped feathers in one wing had been replaced by new ones. To sum up, it seems to me that there are few European species less likely to have come to England of their own accord than the Purple Gallinule; but T will give Mr. Mathew the benefit of a suggestion as to the origin of the individual captured in Somersetshire. It is well known that the Romans kept these birds in captivity: they may have brought some to Britain. Bath was a Roman colony, and the courtyard of some Pro-consul of Æquæ-salis may have been enlivened with the imperial purple hues of this beautiful southern species. When the Roman power waned and "the heathen" poured across the Severn, necessitating those "great battles in the west" of which our Laureate has sung, the neglected Gallinules would naturally seek refuge, and also food (for probably at such times their owners forgot to feed them), in the peaceful marshes of the Parrett. Increase of population and drainage would in later times have diminished their numbers, and in the bird in question we have perhaps the last descendant of the original invaders, which, after 1400 years of occupation by its "forbears," may fairly lay claim to naturalization. On this supposition, and on this only, I should be inclined to admit that it has a claim to be considered a "British" bird.— (7, Radnor Place, Hyde Park, W.).

—Since the discussion in 'The Zoologist,' as to whether it is possible that a Purple Gallinule found at large in this country may or may not be a bonâ fide visitor and not an escaped bird, I have made further enquiries with reference to the specimen shot on the 2oth September, 1876, at Grange-over-Sands, North Lancashire, to which you allude in the May number of 'The Zoologist' (p. 228). Allan, the gamekeeper, who shot it, tells me that he saw it frequently for a month previously to any attempt on his part to shoot it. Generally it was in company with a large covey of Partridges, feeding on the stubbles, and