vol, iv, plate 264. Mr. Gould, to whom we have shewn
Mr. Goatley’s letter, considers this one of the most interesting
additions to the British Fauna that has occurred for
many years.—Ed.] ”
This specimen was drawn from and engraved for the
present work.
In the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society L for , 1866,
p. 210, it is recorded that the late Mr. Gould exhibited a
specimen of the Andalusian Hemipode. which had heen taken
near Huddersfield, and which had been sent to him for
inspection by the possessor, Mr. Alfred Beaumont. In ‘iThe
Birds of Great Britain,’ vol. ivJ, Mr. Gould adds that ..the
specimen was accompanied by the. following note s—“ The
bird was purchased alive by the son of S. D. Mosley, a bird-
stuffer of Huddersfield, from }two Irishmen, o h . the 7th of
April, 1§.65, near the Fartown bar on the Bradford ;Boad.
He saw it in the hand of one of the mén, and thinking it a
novelty gave them sixpence for i t ; the Irishmen regarded it
as a young Partridge. ”
Nothing can be more' circumstantial*than'the; above statements,
and, failing disproof, there seems no alternative: but
to continue to include this species in the .list of. British
birds.
The earliest -information respecting the > mesting of the
Andalusian Hemipode was given in ‘ Thè Ib is’ for. 185.9,
p. 80, pi. ii., in which'the late,Mr. W.I^I. Hewitspn-figured
two of its eggs, with those of other .rarities, brought from
Algeria by Canon Tristram, who contributed a note stating
that they were, taken by Captain Lochenf..the-French army
in Kebab Forest, on July 11th, 1857. <- Thé j nest .was said to
havé contained seven eggs-, nearly fresh, and was placed;.on
the ground in the midst of a -dense thicket of underwood.
Colonel Irby* says that owing to the skulking habits of the
birds, the nest is exceedingly- difficult to obtain, .but -four
eggs slightly incubated were brought to him from the neighbourhood
of San Eoque on the 6th July, 1869’; the nest
being, described by the finder as consisting ,óf, a few .bits5 of
- * Ornithology of the-Straits of Gibraltar, p. 14-1.
dried grass placed under the shelter of a palmetto bush;
Another nest, found by Capt, Savile. G. Reid, R.E*> on the
19th May, T87;3, was placed ,in grass. ;near the;shore, and
also c o n ta in e d four incubated,eggs, $s did another obtained
near Tangier by Olcese ; Favier also says that,they lay four
eggs, and .that number appears to be the. .usual, complement.
G’6b Irby has also received eggs from Mogador. Boche says
that the old females lay in May, and again in August: the
younger ones in June and September; „young broods.being
sometimes found in the lait#-month. The eggs are of a .dirty-
white colour,-’thickly blotched with purplish-grey and brown,
very similar to those of the Pratincole, but smaller j. their
average measurement being about 1 by *8,in. The structure
of the shell isvv-Ory differenflrom tjiat of the egg of a Quail.
The male is monogamous, and takes part in the. dntie’sj1of
incubation and "of'attending ?tb'-%e-young, which are. able
to run as soon"asobhay are batched. Their .natural,food
consists of insects and^seeite -of. wild leguminous and- other
plants,especially those of the broom; and the,stomachs,of
•these,, examined Ay the^Editor have alsocontained* a large
proportion cf .minute stones.' .In captivity.fheyvfoed> on
wheat,-millet, chopped lettuce, .very small snails, and broken
sugar; but tHe greatest .attractions,« says Ldche, were mealworms
and flies, which’, they soon learnedjto take from the
band. An 'adult male, became .tame almost immediately,
but a wounded female sulked for some time, only yielding
to the temptation of meal-worms. Subsequently,both -would
allow- themselves to he caressed, and made no attempts: to
• escape ; but Loche' eduld neve^'succeed in rearing theiyoung
ones captured from time to/time, : B female, deprived of
the. male, laid more than fifty eggs between March 3rd and
October 16th. These were deposited 'on two consecutive
days; after an interval of three days a third was laid, and
again, after two or three days, a fourth ; then came a pause
of seven fltl eight days, and laying under similar conditions
was recommenced. A pair of birds subsequently hatched
out and reared a brood of four young ones,; which, as soon as
they became thoroughly independent, separated from their