July 1, 1866.] 



SCIENCE. GOSSIP. 



167 



Nightingales near London.— Wc had Nightin- 

 gales here early in May this year, and still have 

 them, as has been usual for many years with us. 

 Distance from Shoreditch Chureli, two miles and a 

 half — W. Redded!, Stamford Hill. 



Markings of Lepidoptera.— What is the cause 

 of the variation in the markings of Lepidoptera ? 

 The small white cabbage butterfly (Pieris rapa) 

 which I have been rearing, are nearly all without 

 the black spots ; some of them entirely white on the 

 upper surface. Another batcli of pupce obtained 

 from the same garden are now emerging, and arc 

 of the ordinary type. What occasions the dif- 

 ference ; has excessive moisture or dryness anything 

 to do with it ?— 67. T. P. 



Wilkin, Quilkin, etc. — I find that in Dr. 

 Borlase's " Cornish Glossary " Gmlkin and Quilqum 

 are given as the words for the frog, from which it 

 appears that they are genuine Celtic terms. — W. R. 

 Tate, 1, Grove Place, Denmark Hill. 



Birds Poisoning their Young.— (See p. 111.) 

 In a little village in Cheshire, where I once resided, 

 lived an old man, who regularly year after year, 

 reared a brood of song thrushes, taken from a nest, 

 built in a cherry tree in his garden, these were con- 

 fined in a cage, and fed by the parent birds ; but 

 never were poisoned or destroyed, as the old man 

 was famed for his thrushes. This is only a solitary 

 instance, many more might be enumerated ; on the 

 contrary, I know net a case where the birds were 

 poisoned. — R. 



Alas, Poor Hedgehog ! —The other clay I caught 

 a hedgehog, which was running about. There were 

 several blue-bottles on it, which were laying a great 

 number of eggs. Would these hatch ; and if hatched 

 could they penetrate the skin of the live hedgehog ? 

 — C. E., Christchurch, Hants. 



Blue Eggs op Chaffinch.— I took this spring 

 a chaffinch's nest, with three eggs of a blue quite 

 as bright as a hedge-sparrow's ; two of them had 

 one spot on them, the other none. I know I was 

 not mistaken in the nests, as I saw the old bird. I 

 have often taken them of a dull blue, but never of 

 this bright colour. — E. G. Wheler. 



Water-Bats. — On the 11th May, while making 

 a little voyage of discovery on our lake, I observed 

 a curious looking nest among the rushes, just above 

 the surface of the water. It was made of rushes, 

 bitten into small pieces, and, in appearance, re- 

 sembled a wren's nest, only larger. I put my hand 

 in, and found three young water-rats. While I was 

 examining them, the old rat swam close up to the 

 boat before it saw me ; it then dived, and reappeared 

 about three yards off, on a heap of cut rushes. 

 About a minute after, it was joined by the other old 

 one, and they both watched me for some time. The 

 next day the young ones had disappeared. I suppose 

 the old ones had carried them away, as the little 

 animals were blind, and the nest was some yards 

 from the shore. On the 13th June I again visited 

 the nest, which had been much enlarged, and found 

 that the young ones had returned. I caught one 

 of them, and it was about the size of a dormouse. 

 The old one was busily engaged in gnawiug the 

 stems of the green rushes, which for yards round 

 were bitten off. Can any one inform me whether 

 water-rats usually build their nests in the water, and 

 whether they are often seen in pairs ?— /. M, W, F. 



Parrots Breeding. — A lady residing near 

 Cromer, in Norfolk, has for some years been in the 

 habit of keeping parrots in a semi-wild state. She 

 has now upwards of twenty, all of which live out 

 of doors all winter, with the exception of one or 

 two of a more delicate species. When I was there 

 in the year 1861, there was one parrot, which had 

 had its toes frozen off, one hard winter and walked 

 on its stumps. It had two white eggs laid in a sort 

 of little coop, something like a dog's kennel ; they 

 were pure white, as W. S. J. states. In another 

 part of the garden by the house, a pair had hatched 

 one egg the year before, and when I saw it, it was 

 a fine bird, as healthy as any of the others, and they 

 had then got a nest with another very young bird in 

 it, in a box where they had built the year before. 

 The curious thing was that each parrot had a par- 

 ticular part of the garden to himself, and would not 

 allow any other to intrude, unless he had a mate : 

 they knew the gardener who fed them, and would 

 perch upon his shoulder to be fed ; but were sus- 

 picious of strangers : they very seldom strayed far. 

 — E. G. Wheler. 



Stones on Mountains.— Can any of your readers 

 enlighten me as to the origin of the loose masses of 

 rough sharp stones which cover the sides and 

 summits of Helvellyn, Cumberland, and other 

 mountains in the vicinity ? Not being, to _ all 

 appearance, water-worn in the least, aud occurring, 

 as they do, on the mountain summits in as large 

 quantities as in the valleys, I am unable to accouut 

 for their presence by any natural process ; but per- 

 haps some geological subscriber could explain the 

 matter, or direct me to some work where I may 

 obtain information respecting it. — /. Q., Liverpool. 



Common Snake. — Can any of your readers state 

 from personal knowledge whether the common snake 

 is found as far north as Yorkshire ? — •/. R. P>. 

 Bethune. 



The More the Merrier. — The enterprising 

 naturalists of High Wycombe (Bucks) are about to 

 publish a local quarterly magazine of Natural His- 

 tory, in which project we wish them success. 



The Locust-tree. — The acacia, or, more cor- 

 rectly speaking, the false acacia, or locust-tree 

 (Robinia pseud- Acacia), was first introduced into 

 Europe by Vespasian Bobin, forester to Louis XIII., 

 in the year 1635. The original tree, brought by 

 Bobin from North America, and planted in the 

 Jardin-des-Plantes, is still in existence, and is now 

 putting forth a few leaves. In 1815 it began to 

 show symptoms of decay, but the branches being- 

 lopped, the trunk shot out with redoubled vigour. 

 Mr. Loudon visited this veteran in 1S35, and it was 

 then thirty-five feet high, but in its prime it was 

 nearly twice that height. It has now dwindled 

 down, and its worm-eaten and wrinkled trunk is 

 carefully supported by iron bands, so as to prolong 

 its existence as much as possible. The appearance 

 of the leaves is looked forward to with much interest 

 and anxiety by the visitors to the garden, as it is 

 feared that every year may be its last.— The Builder. 



" If anybody with ordinary powers of observation 

 and description will go anywhere and relate what he 

 sees and hears faithfully, he can scarcely fad to 

 interest those who listen to him. It is when people 

 write all out of their own heads that they are dull 

 and incomprehensible."— All the Year Round, May 

 12th, 1866. i 



