Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 4 (1900).djvu/405

Rh mouths has not been sufficiently taken notice of. The nestling Blackcap's mouth is lake red, the nestling Willow Warbler's yellow, the Pied Wagtail dull yellow, and the Garden Warbler, according to Bettoni, buff. The nestling Hedge Sparrow has two black spots on its tongue, and the Grasshopper Warbler several spots (Macpherson). Probably none of these tints are lost until the young have left the nest.

Under the heading of "Anatomy," I cannot do better than quote the precise description of Prof. Macgillivray, who in this branch of science especially excelled over other writers:—

"Œsophagus one inch two-twelfths long, inclined to the right, with a distinct dilatation or crop a quarter of an inch in width; the proventriculus bulbiform. Stomach a very muscular gizzard, six and a half twelfths long, seven twelfths broad, obliquely placed, with the lateral muscles very prominent, the epithelium dense, with broad rugæ, and of a yellowish colour, the right muscle two twelfths thick. The trachea as in the Passerinæ and Cantatores; its rings sixty."—(William Macgillivray.)

See also "Remarks on the Internal Structure," by Robert F. Tomes, 'Ibis,' 1860, p. 317.

Since 1743, when the Countess of Albemarle brought a cageful of Bearded Tits from Copenhagen, it has been popular with bird-fanciers in this country, and the experience of all who have tried it is that it is a bird in every way to be recommended for the cage. There is no need to infringe on our native stock, for continental birds, which, in the opinion of some are finer than British, can be generally bought from Erbermehl, Abrahams, or Zache.

Mr. John Young has written one of the best accounts of this charming species in captivity (Norf. and Nor. Nat. Tr. iii. p. 519), and I am indebted to him for showing me his cage. He first of all provided them with proper nesting places and material, by sticking the tops of pampas grass round a six-inch pot of earth, a site somewhat similar to the reeds of their native haunts.