HAftDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



2£9 



sensitive tip (fig. 135), admirably adapted for search- 

 ing far below the surface in boggy and marshy 

 ground, and extracting therefrom larvas and worms. 

 At other times it is spread out, as it were, into a 



Fig. 135. Bill of Snipe (Yarrcll). 



broad flat surface, the very antipodes of the one just 

 mentioned (fig. 136), but equally well fitted to the 

 wants of its possessor. The apex, too, is rounded, 

 and without the sensitive integument which is so 



Fig. 136. Common Swan. 



important an aid to the Snipe and the Woodcock in 

 their researches. In lieu of this, the sides of the 

 bill are bordered with a network of fringe, which 

 allows of the expulsion of the mud through its 



Fig. 13;. Shoveller. 



meshes, while it retains the fat grub or the juicy 

 worm. It is with this form of bill that we see a 

 group of ducks at the side of a village pond " dis- 

 cussing" the debris taken up, and rejecting what is 

 not needed for their support (fig. 137). 



Itchen Albas. W. W. Spicer. 



The Elea.— Mr. Furlonge having courteously 

 forwarded me a copy of his interesting paper on 

 the Anatomy of the Bed-flea, I am pleased to 

 observe that his remarks on the subject of the 

 " Triangular Plates " so far coincide with mine 

 (p. 155), that he considers them as covers, though 

 not particularly of the lancets. My views are, 

 therefore, so far strengthened. This was the chief 

 point of my paper. I will not enter upon others 

 mooted by Mr. Eurlouge, which will no doubt be 

 well discussed at the Quekett Club. I will venture, 

 however, to add that I still hold in the main by 

 Professor R. Jones's explanation, as quoted by me : 

 that the cutting instruments are two,— viz., the 

 lancets ; that the tongue is a suctorial organ, and 

 nothing more; and that the tongue- case is not in 

 any way a cutting instrument ; though this is not 

 in accordance with Mr. Gosse's views, nor those of 

 the Micrographic Dictionary. — S. IS. 



INSECTS AT BATH. 



A COPJIESPONDENT inquires concerning the 

 -*--*- nature of the insects which fell lately at 

 Bath. I beg to inclose a photograph of a drawing 

 of them, made by a friend of mine in Bath, a gen- 

 tleman well versed in natural history. 



Fig. 138. 



Fig. 139- 



Fig. 140. 

 Copy from Photograph of insects that fell at Bath. 



W. B. GlBBS. 



CARRIER PIGEON AND PLOVER. 



A FEW weeks ago I procured a young plover 

 -£*- (T'uueUus cristutits) ; it had been reared by a 

 cottager in Hertford. At the time it came into my 

 possession it was just commencing to feed itself ; 

 being tame, it readily fed from the hand, which 

 made it quite a household favourite. Of course, 

 such a pretty bird is an object of interest among 

 my friends— his large, soft, inquiring eye, fine crests 

 and glossy green feathers, tipped with gold, are not 



