262 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Kestrel's Egg (p. 237).— In answer to your 

 correspondent "C. H. G.," I beg to say that it is a 

 very common occurrence for the markings on birds' 

 eggs to disappear on being wiped or rubbed, par- 

 ticularly if the rag or towel be used when wet. The 

 spots on the eggs of the chaffinch, the buntings, 

 and some of the hawks, are easily rubbed off. Red 

 markings are more easily rubbed away than other 

 colours. By red I also mean purple-red, brownish- 

 red, &c. — W. H. Warner, Kingston. 



Oak Eggar (p. 288).— Is "R. L. N." aware that 

 the caterpillar of this moth hatches in August, 

 hybernates through the winter, and appears in 

 March ; consequently that _ its appearance in the 

 third week in April is nothing unusual ? My note 

 on p. 161 was not inserted in the light of a query, 

 but merely to register what I then considered as a 

 somewhat uncommon occurrence ; but now I find I 

 was mistaken, as Mr. Henderson mentions having 

 had a pupa of this moth on one occasion so early as 

 May 7th, while at the time of my writing the note 

 (May 6th) my caterpillars had not even spun their 

 ocoons. — W. H. Warner, Kingston. . 



Cleaning Skeletons.— I have read that a good 

 method of cleaning the skeletons of small animals- 

 fish, for instance — is to suspend them horizontally 

 in a jar of pond-water in which a couple of dozen or 

 more hungry tadpoles are revelliug. A few months 

 ago I saw a great number of these voracious little 

 reptiles busily engaged on what had once been a' large 

 rat. The process would no doubt be further ad- 

 vanced by previously skiuning the specimen. 

 Probably minnows would answer as well as tad- 

 poles. The water in the jar should be changed 

 occasionally. — W. H .Warner, Kingston. 



Clausilia parvula. — A corresponds of 

 Science-Gossip some few months since, unless I 

 am much mistaken, expressed a desire for speci- 

 mens of this shell. This morning I have just dis- 

 covered a few, collected in Heidelberg some years 

 since : if he will send me stamped and directed 

 envelope, I shall have much pleasure in forwarding 

 him half a dozen specimens. — John E. Daniel, 6, The 

 Terrace, Epsom. 



A Gigantic Duck Egg.— The Manchester Guar- 

 dian of the 4th October contains the following 

 paragraph : — " Mr. Thomhill, of Crumpsall Green, 

 near Manchester, recently found one of his ducks 

 dead upon her nest. She had! been ailing] for some 

 months, and could neither'^eat nor lay. The body 

 was opened, and there was taken from it an egg, 

 which we have seen, and which measures 18^ inches 

 in its greater circumference, 15f (inches at the 

 smaller circumference, and its capacity is 2\ pints 

 of water. It contained three yolks, and after they 

 had been drawn the shell weighed eight ounces. 

 The duck was a cross between a Muscovy and an 

 Aylesbury, of the ordinary size." — G. H. H. 



Parasites on Arge Galathea (p. 233).— Al- 

 though the heading of my communication on this 

 subject in last month's Science-Gossip isjcorrect, 

 there are one or two typographical errors following, 

 which may tend somewhat to mislead. The para- 

 sites were " on," not " in," the specimens 1 ex- 

 amined. — Joseph Anderson, Jun., Alresford, Hants. 



Colour of Eggs (p. 237). — I can inform 

 " C. H. G." that I have found the colour of many 



eggs will come off, especially if wiped soon after 

 they have been laid. I have frequently tried this 

 with the eggs of the Song Thrush, and have removed 

 a great portion of the spots. After an egg has been 

 kept some little time, the colour becomes firmer set. 

 The markings of the Hawk's egg are particularly 

 liable to removal. — /. A., Jun., Alresford. 



Erratum, at p. 221. — For Sertularia geniculata 

 read Sertularia pumila. — 0. M. 



Snake's Skin.— On September 19th I found a 

 very fine cast-off skin of the common Ringed Snake 

 {Natrix torquata) whilst searching for insects on 

 the Oxfordshire hills. It measures 3 feet 5 -J- inches, 

 though a little must be allowed for its stretching 

 when pulled off; it is quite perfect down to the 

 skin of the lips and eyes, and may be inflated like a 

 balloon. I found it so entangled amongst rank 

 grasses, Alopecurus and Phleum pratense, that it was 

 not easily extricated. As it is such a large speci- 

 men, perhaps the above notes may interest natural- 

 ists or lovers of reptiles. — John Henderson. 



Hawfinch. — The other day I saw a pair of eggs 

 of this bird in a friend's cabinet; they were taken in 

 a fir plantation, about five miles from Reading, in 

 May, 1869. I have a stuffed male in good plumage, 

 which was shot in Worcestershire ; and some years 

 ago the head of another was brought to me for 

 identification : this last came from an orchard near 

 Earley, Berks.—/. Henderson. 



Egg of Kestrel (p. 237).— "C. H. G.'s" com- 

 munication is by no means a singular one. I find 

 the colouring matter will come off the shells of 

 Merlin, Sparrow-hawk, Carrion Crow, Plover, and 

 several others besides the Kestrel. One of my eggs 

 of the latter hawk is of a very rich dark brown, 

 and another is of a white or cream colour. — J. Hen- 

 derson. 



Worms.— In a lecture delivered in Manchester 

 in 1866 or '67, Dr. Alcock said,— speaking of the 

 common earthworm, — " I was surprised to see that 

 a very considerable number of the worms I obtained 

 had _ new tails : it was evident they were not the 

 original tails, because they were badly fitted ; they 

 were smaller in proportion than the rest of the body, 

 as well as paler in colour ;" and further on he says, 

 " The worm goes back into its hole, and grows a 

 new tail." But the Rev. J. G. Wood, in "Common 

 Objects of the Seashore," folio 95, says of the earth- 

 worm, that it "is not capable of producing a fresh 

 tail, or even of forming a single fresh ring." Have 

 any of your readers any experience as to which of 

 these statements is correct, or can they refer to other 

 authorities on the subject? — E. P. P. 



Deiopeia pulchella.— Mr. J. Gatcombe, at 

 page 239 of Science-Gossip, states that the cater- 

 pillar of Deiopeia pulchella has never been taken in 

 this country. I beg to undeceive him, and acquaint 

 him that in the year 1842 a lady of my acquaintance 

 took no less than nine on a clump of the field Eor- 

 get-me-not (Myosotis arvensis) in a field between 

 lsleham and Eordham, in Cambridgeshire. They 

 were retained for some time in the breeding-eage, 

 and when just in that restless stage which precedes 

 their change to the chrysalis, they were unfortunately 

 lost through the stupid curiosity of a servant-boy, 

 who left the cage-door open in a hurried flight to 



