| At which times the three last-named | Jack snipe, Scolopax Gallinula, | April 12 | |
| birds had all attained their full sum- | Knot, Tringa canutus, in full sum- | ||
| mer plumage, | mer plumage, | May 20 | |
| Woodcock, Scolopax rusticola, | April 3 |
— Id.
Observations on the Moulting of Birds. I observe in the June number (Zool. 190) a note on the pied wagtail, in which mention is made of a spring moult. I had understood that in general the moulting of birds took place some time in autumn, and that the changes in the colour of the plumage, which, in many instances, occur in the breeding season, were caused by the wearing of the tips of the feathers. In many birds, as, for example, the waders, there are great differences of colour at different seasons; these perhaps may be attributed to a double moult. The subject of moulting deserves, I think, more attention than it has hitherto met with. Would any of the readers of ' The Zoologist' favour us with a paper on it? Do birds change the whole of their plumage at one time; or, if not, what portions? Are the quills and tail-feathers shed and renewed annually? Finally, does moulting take place more than once a year? These are questions which I have never seen satisfactorily answered.—Archibald Jerdon; Boujedward, June, 1843.
Note on the more frequent occurrence of the Woodcock. There is some consolation to the British naturalist, in the reflection, that whilst the majority of our birds are becoming more rare every year, owing to increased cultivation of the soil; some few species more frequently occur, especially in the breeding season. The nest of the woodcock is now almost commonly found in some districts, though formerly of so rare occurrence. Mr. Southwell, gamekeeper to the Marquis of Anglesey, in May last discovered three nests of young woodcocks at Beaudesert. This is the first time I have heard of this species breeding in the neighbourhood, although snipes have frequently been seen, in the summer season.—Edwin Brown; Burton-on-Trent, June 29, 1843.
Notes upon the Reptiles mentioned in Shakspeare's Plays.
By Robert Patterson, Esq., V.P. Nat. Hist. Soc. Belfast.
It is proposed in the present paper to examine the notices of reptiles scattered throughout Shakspeare's plays, with a view to ascertain how far they are in accordance with facts now known, or how far they embody the errors and superstitions of other days. Such an enquiry, "figuring the nature of the time deceased," is not in reality valueless, for it serves to bring before us, in new and unexpected lights, some of the mental phenomena of two distant epochs. It makes us view with a kindly and contemplative spirit, the varying phases of society; and while we compare the knowledge of the present time, with that which was current in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, we are tempted to ask if changes no less remarkable may not again occur?—if hypotheses, now gravely propounded as truths, may not yet be held up as curi-
