83 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Silvery Hair-tail. — I observed in the January 

 number of Science-Gossip that a specimen of this 

 fish had been taken near Swanage in December. 

 A fisherman of Durgan (on the Helford harbour) 

 brought to me on the 4th January that species of 

 Trichiurus which he had caught in his net. It was 

 quite new to the old experienced fisherman of the 

 village. It was like a bar of silver, about two feet 

 in length. I requested him to take it to a medical 

 friend in Falmouth for his more complete examin- 

 ation. This is the fifth specimen taken on the 

 south-west coast within two months. — C. F. 



Baby Hippopotamus. — At the meeting of the 

 Zoological Society of London, 21st February, the 

 Secretary announced the birth of a young Hippo- 

 potamus in the Society's Gardens, which had taken 

 place that day, being the first occurrence of this 

 event in England, although this animal had previ- 

 ously bred in some of the Continental gardens. It 

 died however within two days. 



An Intelligent Cat.— At one of the principal 

 railway stations in Manchester, a tabby cat is often 

 to be seen running about. She belongs to the 

 refreshment-room, and is very friendly with some of 

 the lady travellers. One of these ladies always 

 treats puss to a sponge-cake, and as soon as she has 

 seated herself in the waiting-room, the cat jumps 

 into her lap. In the course of her peregrinations, 

 puss sometimes finds herself between the rails 

 when a train is coming, and she then squats down 

 until it has passed or come to a standstill.— £. E. H. 



The Eiery-crested Wren {Regulus igni-ca- 

 pillus). — The discovery of this Regulus as a British 

 bird is in itself rather a curious matter, as the 

 honour of it belongs to a cat in the possession of a 

 gentleman at Swaffham. Puss and her master are 

 both fond of birds, though for different reasons no 

 doubt ; but puss studies her master's interest as 

 well as her own, and affords another proof that the 

 feline race are, by a little attention, fit for other pur- 

 poses than mere mousing. Well, the cat in question 

 is a very notable bird-catcher ; at first, no doubt, for 

 the supply of her own appetite ; but her master and 

 she now so well understand each other, that when 

 she catches a bird she brings it to him. If it suits 

 his purpose, she is fondled and fed ; if not, the bird 

 is returned to her, and she does with it as she likes. 

 In that way she brought the fiery-crested wren to 

 her master, a young bird, and just at the season 

 when the young, if hatched in the country, would 

 have begun to fly. That afforded a hint which was 

 followed up. The old birds were observed in the 

 neighbourhood, and very soon after they were ob- 

 served near Brighton. — Mttdie, "The Feathered 

 Tribes of the British Islands." 



Parasites in the Interior of a Mole Flea. 

 — In August last I caught a mole on the surface of 

 the ground, which had become too hard for him 

 easily to escape. As usual, he was infested with fleas 

 to a very considerable extent. I secured a few for 

 examination, and amongst them was one of an ex- 

 traordinary size. Even without the aid of the micro- 

 scope, it was easy to see that the abdomen was dis- 

 tended in an unnatural manner. After soaking in 

 liquor potassse, and squeezing it between two glasses 

 prior to mounting, I was surprised to see large num- 

 bers of mites expelled from the abdomen; and after 

 I had mounted it in balsam, I was pleased to find 

 that seven mites still remained in the abdomen. 1 

 enclose a drawing of one, and should be glad to 

 know whether any reader of Science-Gossip has 

 met with a similar occurrence, and also how the 

 presence of such a number of mites in the interior 

 of the flea is to be accounted for.— G. II. Stubington, 

 Basingstoke. 



Pterodina valvata.— About the end of January 

 I found Actinophrys Fichomii and viridis in abun- 

 dance in a pool on the forest at Snaresbrook, to- 

 gether with other Rhizopods. While studying Ac- 

 tinophrys, I was agreeably surprised by seeing a 

 pretty Brachionsean Rotifer swimming across the 

 field of the microscope, and on closer examination 

 it proved to be a specimen of Pterodina valvata, 

 described by Dr. Hudson in the January number of 

 the Monthly Microscopical Journal, p. 25. Subse- 

 quent dips from my bottle produced other speci- 

 mens, but I never managed to get more than one 

 under the microscope at the same time. I am not 

 sure that Dr. Hudson's figure (pi. lxxii.) is quite 

 accurate as to the bosses round the margin of the 

 lorica. He represents five bosses on either side, 

 and a median one in a line with the tail. In the 

 specimens I examined on this point, 1 found six 

 bosses on either side, and no median one, the line of 

 the tail coming between two of the bosses. I have 

 not, however, observed a sufficient number of spe- 

 cimens to speak positively. The number of the 

 bosses may be variable. — H. R. 



The Kestrel (Falco tinntcnculus). — I have read 

 with much pleasure the interesting account which 

 " A. G. H." has given of his Kestrel in your last 

 number, but I think he has made a mistake in at- 

 tributing inaccuracy of description to three well- 

 known and trusted writers on natural history. At 

 page G3 he says, " Wood, Macgillivray, Mudic, and 

 others describe the iris as yellow, — in her it is dark 

 brown." Knowing that Macgillivray, especially, is 

 famed for being one of the most scrupulously cor- 

 rect and careful of observers, I was of course some- 

 what surprised at his alleged failure in this instance. 

 Happening to possess all three of the works referred 

 to by " A. G. H," I at once compared his statement 



