thin membrane stretched over the opening, the whole resembling in figure and texture the split reed of those musical instruments, commonly called trombones, so much esteemed in church service, and which are widest at the lower end, with a similar fissure. Below this the windpipe divaricates into two branches, both of which enlarge towards the middle, or are directly ramified through the lungs *. Dr. Latham's description is, that "the windpipe in the wild swan passes down the neck the whole of its length, after which it enters the keel of the sternum [breast-bone], passing backwards therein nearly the whole of its length, when it bends upwards and forwards, and then enters the cavity of the breast to communicate with the lungs †."

As this curious structure is not found in the tame swan (Cygnus mansuetus, RAY), Willughby very justly remarks, that "Aldrovand doth not rightly infer that Aristotle never dissected this fowl, because he makes no mention of this ingress, and of the strange figure of the windpipe." He adds, "of tame swans, we have anatomized many, and in all have observed the windpipe to descend straight down into the lungs, without any such digression or deflection." Buffon, however, in conformity to the theory which vitiates so many of his details, maintains that this difference of structure "is insufficient to constitute two distinct species, for the variation exceeds not the sum of the impressions, both internal and external, which the domestic habits may in time produce §."

Recently, Mr. Wingate has discovered that there are two species of wild swan, differing remarkably in

* Aldrovandi Ornithologia, iii. 6 edit. Francf.

Linn. Trans. iv. 106.

Willughby, Ornith. by Ray, p. 356.
§ Oiseaux, Art. Le Cygne.

the conformation of the windpipe. In Bewick's swan (Cygnus Bewickii, YARREL), in the adult state, the windpipe, which is of equal diameter throughout, enters the keel of the breast-bone, through which it makes its way to the end, where, inclining upwards and outwards, it passes into a cavity formed in the body of the bone by the separation of the bony plates, and producing a convex protuberance on the inner surface of the breast-bone. In this cavity the windpipe assumes a horizontal direction, and makes a considerable curve, reaching within half an inch of the posterior edge of the breast-bone. It then returns to the keel, along the upper part of which it passes to the exterior edge of the bone, over which it is reflected so as to enter the body of the bird, and become attached to the lungs. On the other hand, in the wild or hooping swan (C. ferus), the windpipe never assumes a horizontal direction, and does not even penetrate within the keel to the extent of one half of the breast-bone*.

* Trans. of the Nat. Hist. Society of Newcastle, for 1831, and Zool. Journ. v. 258.

Mr. Sweet found one of these nests fastened to the side branches of a poplar tree at Fulham.

Nest of the Reed warbler (Curruca arundinacea, BRISSON), from Bolton. The preceding bird is frequently confounded with the sedge warbler (Curruca salicaria, BRISSON), a much more common species; but, though from the shyness of both this was not to be wondered at, we think it strange that their nests, which are so very different, did not lead sooner to a distinction. The nest of the sedge bird is a much more solid and substantial structure, and an inch less both in depth and diameter,-one of the smallest nests indeed in the interior with which we are acquainted, though, from the quantity of dried grass, leaves, fibrous

roots, wool, and hair, it appears rather large. The whole being very closely woven, is admirably adapted for warmth, so indispensable for so small a bird, when it is considered that it is usually built over water, being supported in an elegant manner between three or four rushes*. The story, which is to be met with in some books, of this and some other nests, built among reeds, being so skilfully attached to the stems as to rise and fall with the water below, is altogether fabulous. The nest of a bird of a different family, the black bonnet (Emberiza Schoeniclus), inappropriately termed reed-bunting or reedsparrow, is erroneously said by some authors to exhibit more skill than either of the preceding in constructing its nest. We have remarked an interesting specimen of this kind in the British Museum, suspended between three stems of reeds; and Mr. Bolton describes a similar one which was skilfully bound round with the growing reed leaves, so as to form a slight lattice-work, upon which also the foundation of the nest was laid. The chief material employed in this nest was broken rushes, the stronger placed near the bottom, the finer around the brim; a few sprigs of moss were mixed here and there, and the whole was artfully wound round with the long flexible reed-leaves. The lining was composed of a thick bed of cow's hair. The nest was placed about a foot above the water of a still pond. Sepp has given a very pretty figure, which represents it as built in the cleft of a willow, and basketed round with straw †. Syme says, the "nest is placed either amongst rushes, or ingeniously fastened to three or four reeds; and in this floating cradle, though rocked by the tempest, the hen securely sits without fear or dread. Fanciful as this may appear, an accurate naturalist, + Nederlandsche Vogelen, i. Deel. Brit. Song Birds, p. 146.

* J. R.

Supposed nest of the Reed-Bunting (Emberiza Schaniclus), drawn from specimen in the British Museum.

Graves, says he has himself more than once seen the hen sitting on the nest when, at every blast of wind, the reeds to which it was suspended were bent down to the water*.

There cannot be a doubt, however, that these authors have mistaken some other nest for that of the black-headed or reed bunting, probably that of the sedge warbler (Curruca salicaria, BRISSON). The nest of the former, Selby remarks, differs both

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