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Show 452 MR. R. SWINHOE O N A N E W DEER FROM NINGPO. [June 16, the herbage, and lays only three eggs, rather larger than Partridges' eggs, of a dusky colour variegated with black, and better-flavoured than hen's eggs." " The male and female always keep together; and one rarely sees them in flocks. W h e n they perceive that any one is looking for their eggs, they quietly retire as far as they can from the nest, squatting down on the grass, nor do they show themselves except at a distance and without manifesting the least alarm ; but should they see the intruder approaching their cherished brood, they rise upon the wing and dart down at him with the greatest fury. "This trait (which they share in common with the Lapwing) and the other above-mentioned peculiarities, or characteristics, at first induced m e to place it in the same genus, calling it Tringa chilensis; but the small fleshy protuberance on the forehead * compelled me to leave it in the genus Parra, from which, however, it differs by the moderate size of its toes. " It has been observed that these birds never call out at night except when they hear some one pass. On this account the Arau-canians make use of them in time of war, as so many sentinels on the alert to give warning against a surprise of the enemy. " In times gone by the gentry of the country amused themselves by hawking at these birds with trained Falcons ; but now they shoot them with guns. "Their flesh is not inferior to that of the Woodcock." A similar account is given more briefly by Gay in his * Fauna Chilena,' vol. i. p. 400 ; and Bridges (I. s. c.) has not added much more to the history of the bird. He describes it as " one of the most common birds found on the plains near the Andes and in other parts of the country," and found its food to consist of worms, locusts, &c. The eggs he described as excellent eating and resembling those of the Lapwing of England, Vanellus cristatus-a description which was subsequently confirmed by Yarrell, who gave a more detailed account of their size, colour, and appearance (P. Z. S. 1847, p. 54) from specimens which had been forwarded to him from Chili. 9. On a Small, Tufted, Hornless Deer from the Mountains near Ningpo. By B. SWINHOE. [Keceived June 16, 1874.] (Plate LIX.) My friend and correspondent Mr. A. Michie wrote me a letter, dated Shanghai, December 19, 1873, as follows:-"I send another note to overtake the mail, to tell you I have just found a new deer * This was a mistake on the part of Molina. No such protuberance is observable in the birds before me. |