May 1, 1866.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



11? 



■who said he bad ever seeu them or heard them. 

 There is a delightful odour from the flowers. 

 You are the more conscious of their sweetness 

 when a, petite mu'Uresse, highly coloured and strongly 

 perfumed, waddles gracefully by you. Psh ! how 

 inferior is an essence to a flower ! The little dog 

 the petite maitrcsse carries is painted and perfumed 

 as overpoweringly as his proprietrix. Poor dog ! 

 how bis proprietrix must love him ! And what a 

 wonderful creature is the gandbi who follows ! 

 Where did he find the pattern of that gorgeous 

 waistcoat of which he is so proud? Not among 

 the flowers he passes by so heedlessly ! How 

 superior is Nature to a tailor ! — "Fun." 



Spiked Star of Bethlehem (Omithogahtm 

 Pyrenaicum). — I have found this plant here only on 

 one spot, and have never met with it elsewhere. It 

 is said to be rare, and the record of a locality may 

 be of interest to your readers. — B. F. M., Ashwell. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Pugnacity or the Wren.— The burrow of the 

 woodpecker is far too comfortable a dwelling to be 

 neglected by the wren, who allows the woodpecker 

 to proceed with its labours until he thinks that the 

 hole is large enough for his purpose, aud then 

 assaults the unfortunate burrowers, driving them off 

 to seek another and a less-disturbed locality. In one 

 case a pair of woodpeckers began to make their 

 tunnel in an apple-tree, and were driven from the 

 spot by the house-wren. They then pitched upon 

 a pear-tree, completed their burrow, and had laid 

 one egg, when they were again attacked by the 

 fiery little bird, and obliged to abandon the locality 

 altogether. — " Homes Without Sands," 



The Parasite of the Bee.— M. Duchemin has 

 done good service by pointing out the source of 

 the minute creature which attacks the hive-bee. 

 Bonn several observations and experiments, he 

 believes he is justified in affirming that the parasite 

 is to be found upon the Helianthts animus, and 

 that the bee takes it from the plant, not the plant 

 from the bee. — Proc. French Academy of Sciences, 



We have had the opportunity of an inspection of 

 one of these parasites, which was found attached to 

 a living bee by Mr. Woodbury. It is a formidable- 

 looking creature when placed under the lens of a 

 good microscope. It is so formed as to be capable 

 of maintaining a very tenacious hold on the body of 

 its victim. Whether M. Duchemin be correct in 

 the conclusion he has arrived at we cannot say. It 

 seems rather strange that a parasite which derives 

 its nourishment from the juices of an insect should 

 originally find its habitat on a plant. — Garcl. Chron. 



Kingfishers.— At page 89, Boger J. Wright 

 mentions an instance of a song-thrush breaking 

 through his kitchen window. Several incidents of 



a like nature have occurred at my home, two of 

 which may be worth recording. The house stands 

 on a low cliif over a river, and the flower-garden in 

 front of the windows being laid out on the top of 

 the cliff, is some thirty-eight feet above the level of 

 the water. Several years ago I was startled by a 

 violent blow against the plate-glass window of the 

 drawing-room, and on looking out for the cause, 

 saw a kingfisher lying on. the gravel walk below, 

 with both mandibles of its bill broken about "the 

 middle, and bent upward by the force of the blow. 

 The butler picked up and examined the poor bird, 

 which was alive, and pronounced it a young bird 

 and otherwise uninjured ; but as it could not pos- 

 sibly eat with its bill in that condition, he proceeded 

 to pare away with his knife the whole of the broken 

 portion, assuring me that it was only the horny and 

 not sensitive part of the bill which was damaged, 

 The bird certainly showed no sign of suffering during 

 the operation, though it is probable it may have 

 been partially stunned. It was then laid on a soft 

 sod to recover, and I watched it for a few minutes, 

 after which it rose, and walked or fluttered away, 

 amongst the bushes, apparently sufficiently recovered 

 to take care of itself; but whether with its short- 

 ened bill it was able to pick up a livelihood, I had 

 of course no means of knowing. The other case 

 was witnessed a long time previously by my father. 

 Two birds, fighting on the wing above the same 

 flower-garden, struck with great force against the 

 dining-room window. One of the combatants, a 

 robin, flew away unhurt ; the other fluttered down 

 to the top of a stone pillar, where it sat for some 

 moments panting before it was able again to take 

 flight, and my father perceived it to be a kingfisher. 

 We thought it surprising to meet with these birds 

 at so great a height above the level of the water, 

 and still more so that one should fight with a robin, 

 as it is difficult to imagine what could have brought 

 two birds of such different habits into collision. 

 On another occasion my father found a young 

 kingfisher lying dead on the ground, choked by a 

 fish too large for it to swallow, and which was pro- 

 truding from its bill. The bird was callow, and had 

 evidently been flung out of a nest, which must have 

 been near. It seems a curious instance of defective 

 instinct in the parent bird, that it should have 

 supplied its offspring with a mouthful so large as to 

 cause its death. — /. P. 



Beptiles in North Wales.— In Merionethshire 

 there is a great dread of the whole of our reptiles, 

 but especially of the common snake (so far as I 

 know we have not the viper at all) and of the 

 lizards. The latter are looked upon with dread as 

 most venomous creatures, and are honoured with 

 the epithet of "Crocodeil." The common people 

 would not touch them on any account. The first 

 snake this season appeared the 26th March. — W. P. 



