HARDWICKE'S SCIEN CE-GOSSIP. 



113 



"development" consequent on change of circum- 

 stance :— It is well known that great trouble and 

 expense have been caused by the sinking of a por- 

 tion of the track of the new Jefferson Railroad 

 where it crosses a swamp in Ararat township, in 

 this county. It has been found that under the 

 swamp is a subterranean pond of several acres in 

 extent, and of considerable depth. This pond is 

 covered by about six feet in depth of black earth, 

 which supports a heavy growth of woods. The 

 trees are mostly soft maple, pine, hemlock, and 

 birch, many of them ranging from six inches to 

 three feet in diameter. Last fall it was discovered 

 that this subterranean pond contained many fish of 

 the kind usually found in this part of the country- 

 pickerel and "shiners" among others— but all with- " 

 out eyes ! In the darkness of their subterranean 

 abode they have no use for the organ of vision. 

 The Ball Pond, about a mile and a half distant, is 

 now "growing over." A considerable part of it 

 has become subterranean within the last twenty 

 years, and probably before many years more it will be 

 entirely covered like the other. This pond is about 

 twenty acres in extent. For some distance from 

 the shore it is filled with a dense growth of water- 

 lilies, and these, no doubt, furnish the foundation 

 of which the superstructure of earth is commenced. 

 — The Standard. 



Early Visitors. — While out shooting on Mon- 

 day, the 10th of April, near Guildford, I heard the 

 Cuckoo for the first time. I thought I might have 

 been mistaken, but the next morning the following 

 appeared in the Daily News to corroborate it : — 

 "Yesterday a number of Cuckoos located themselves 

 on Tooting and Streatham Common, and cheered 

 the districts with their welcome cry for some 

 hours, and then scattered and made off for the 

 Surrey Hills. These migratory birds have; made 

 their appearance in the south earlier than usual, 

 they being rarely heard before the end of April." 

 Morris, in his " British Birds," mentions one 

 having been heard on the 14th. Can any of yoar 

 readers inform me if it has been heard earlier ? — 

 /. L. C. 



The Shall Eggaii (Eriogaster lacustris). — 

 Amongst certain of the Bombyces, as well as the 

 Sphingidee, it has been noticed that a second winter 

 is passed in the pupa condition by some individuals, 

 as noted by Mr. Binnie (p. 90), and pupee of the 

 species named have produced moths even after a 

 third winter, as related by one of the old naturalists 

 (from whom I regret that I cannot quote verbatim); 

 out of a number he reared, one third emerged the 

 following spring, another third the second spring, 

 and the remainder not until the third year. As 

 this moth, and its relative, the December (Pcecilo- 

 campa Populi), appear at a season when severe 



weather frequently prevails, this circumstance may 

 be designed to prevent the destruction of the 

 species, by dividing the risk it runs. The reason 

 why others, such as our old friend the Puss-moth, 

 are thus occasionally retarded, is not very clear. — 

 F.B.S.C. 



Trichiurus in Ireland.— The finding of the 

 Silvery Hair-tail, lately, in two places in South- 

 western England, lias been recorded in your pages 

 as an interesting circumstance. You may therefore 

 wish to know that, about three months ago, five 

 specimens of the Trichiurus Upturns were obtained 

 in Dingle and Tralee Bays, Kerry, in the south-west 

 of Ireland. They were sent by Dr. Bustced, of 

 Castle Gregory, Tralee, to Mr. William Andrews, 

 of Dublin, who, speaking with authority, de- 

 clares that this is the first time that this fish 

 has been recognized on the coast of Ireland. — 

 M. H. C. 



Swallow-tail Butterfly (p. 80).— Some diffi- 

 culty is experienced in obtaining eggs from butter- 

 flies which have been bred in confinement. It is 

 questionable, therefore/whether Mr. Laddiman will 

 succeed in his experiment. We have recorded in 

 " The Entomologist," that Mr. Gaze, having reared 

 some imagos (in 1840), found two paired on his 

 window-blind. He obtained eggs, which were fer- 

 tile. The female, however, only deposited fourteen, 

 though supplied with nourishment, a small propor- 

 tion, probably, of the natural number. As must 

 have been noticed, even by the unentomological 

 eye, these insects pair on the wing, and hence a 

 departure from this proceeding is a rarely occurring 

 incident, and even a vivarium hardly supplies the 

 needful space for an aerial excursion. This habit 

 has been well described in the familiar lines of 

 Rogers— 



" Child of the Sun, pursue thy rapturous flight, 

 Mingling with her thou lov'st in fields of light." 



— F.R.S.C. 



The Peregrine. — An old female Peregrine 

 Ealcon {Falco peregrlnus, Gmel.), passing over 

 the waters of the Golden Horn, near the bridge 

 across the Horn, stooped amidst the shipping, 

 steamers, &c, and took a gull from off the waters, 

 retiring to a ship's yard close by to consume its 

 booty. A fter it had eaten for a time, an English sailor 

 went up to the yard, took it by the back and brought 

 it down ; it is fat, wild, and healthy. A great 

 number of Siberian, Calandra, and Common Larks 

 were shot in Asia Minor and Europe, in the 

 storm of the early part of February. The storm 

 being more than usually severe in the north, a great 

 number of Siberian Larks have arrived ; many 

 have been shot for eating.— Thomas Bobson, of Or- 

 takeny, Turkey. 



