HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



137 



ZOOLOGY. 



Rooks.— On the 6th of May the editor of the 

 Manchester Guardian celebrated the fiftieth anni- 

 versary of its publication by reprinting the first 

 number, which contains several interesting para- 

 graphs on natural-history subjects. The most 

 remarkable of these is an account of several pairs 

 of rooks having, in the spring of 1821, built their 

 nests in some trees at the top of King-street, Man- 

 chester, which even then was in the middle of the 

 town. Jackdaws also seem to have been common 

 there, for a number of them assisted the paired 

 rooks in stealing materials from the nest of a soli- 

 tary old female, who eventually durst hardly quit it 

 to seek food. The same paper mentions a letter in 

 the Bodleian Collection, dated 1735, which states 

 that a Mr. Vernon followed a butterfly nine miles 

 before he could catch it. — G. H. H. 



Summer Migrants.— Birds of passage have, as 



a rule, appeared somewhat early this spring. I 



subjoin a list of those noticed by me, and the times 



of their appearance. I have in no case depended 



on the information furnished by others, but have 



entirely relied on the evidence of my own eyes and 



ears, which rule, I may say without vanity, is the 



only infallible one. The Chiff-chaff {Sylvia hippolais) 



came on March 21th ; the Blackcap {Curruca atrica- 



pilla) on April 3rd; the Willow Wren {Sylvia 



Trochilus) on the 8th; the Chimney Swallow 



{Hirundo rustica) on the 13th ; the Redstart {Phce- 



nicura ruticilla) on the 11th; the Nightingale 



{Philomela luscinia) on the 16th ; the Sand Martin 



{Hirundo riparia) on the 16th; the Cuckoo {Cuculus 



canorus) on the 23rd ; the Whitethroat {Curruca 



cinerea) on the 23rd; the Turtle Dove {Columba 



Tartar) on the 29th; and the Spotted Flycatcher 



{Muscicapa grisola) on May 2nd. Note.— Why do 



all the books on ornithology, which I have consulted, 



invariably give the third week or end of May as the 



time of the appearance of the Flycatcher? In this 



neighbourhood it always appears very early in the 



month, be the weather mild or rough. In 1S69, 1 



noticed it on the 2nd of May ; in 1S70, on the 5th ; 



and this year on the 2nd. While I write (May 8th), 



a pair of these harmless and useful little birds are 



building in a pear-tree trained against the walls of 



this house, where they or their progenitors have 



reared broods of little chirpers year after year — 



William Henry Warner, Kingston, Abingdon. 



Puttocks (p. 119).— Several birds are called by 

 this name in the south of England. One of these is 

 the common Buzzard, which is invariably known 

 as the Puttock in Essex ; the others are the Kite 

 (also called the Crotchet-tailed Puttock) and the 

 Marsh Harrier. See Atkinson's "British Birds' 

 E-s and Nests."— G. H. H. 



Hawfinch {Coccothraustes vulgaris). — I consider 

 myself very fortunate in finding to-day a nest of 

 this rare bird, with five eggs. It was in a yew-tree, 

 within reaching distance from the ground, in a 

 park, about two miles from this town. The bird 

 was in the nest, which is composed of twigs, lichen, 

 and fibrous roots, the interior being lined with dried 

 reed-grass. The eggs, of a pale olive-green colour, 

 are beautifully marked with black spots and greyish 

 streaks. The nest of this bird in our country is so 

 seldom discovered, that the above account probably 

 may not be uninteresting to collectors. — Fred. 

 Anderson, Alresford, Hampshire, May S, 1871. 



The Butterflies of Arabia and Egypt. — 

 A very interesting list of lepidopterous insects 

 collected or observed by J. K. Lord, Esq., has been 

 recently published. The localities explored by him 

 had not previously been particularly investigated 

 with a view to ascertain their insect fauna. The 

 region in Egypt which he visited bears resemblance, 

 we are told, to some parts of the Mediterranean 

 coast, and is even not unlike some sandy portions of 

 our own coast-lines. In addition to his investiga- 

 tions of this Egyptian district, and of the Arabian 

 " wadies " and plains, Mr. Lord also examined the 

 African shores of the Red Sea. He reports the 

 following amongst our British species as occurring 

 in the places he visited. The Swallow-tail {Papilio 

 Machaon), near Mount Sinai ; the Small or Garden 

 White {Pieris Rapa), at Cairo; our exceedingly 

 rare species the Bath White {Pieris Daplidice), 

 taken at Wady Gennet and at Mount Sinai ; our 

 common and pretty species of Anthocharis. The 

 Orange-tip is not recorded, though many species of 

 that genus occur in Arabia : Mr. Lord particularizes 

 nine which he noticed. The Clouded Yellow 

 {Colitis Edusa) was seen at Mount Sinai ; its relative 

 the Pale Clouded Yellow {Colias Hyale), observed 

 at Akeek Island, Harkeko, African coast; our 

 conspicuous Red Admiral {Pyrameis Atalanta) 

 occurs about Cairo, and the allied and very widely 

 distributed Painted Lady {Pyrameis Cardui), also 

 near Cairo, and on Akeek Island. The caterpillars 

 were also seen feeding on a species of Artemisia. 

 Our Fritillaries, Meadow Butterflies, and Blues are 

 represented by peculiar species of the exotic genera 

 Idmais, Junonia, Callidryas, and Lampides. The 

 whole number of butterflies noted is sixty-one, out 

 of which the seven above named are British.— 

 /. B. S. C. 



Sounding Apparatus.— I have for some time 

 been trying to find out some cheap and effective 

 apparatus to obtain specimens of the sea bottom 

 from depths at which an amateur could not work a 

 dredge, except at great expense. I have applied 

 to the most likely makers of such things, and also 

 to the public, through your columns, but can hear 

 of nothing better than the old plummet, with grease 



