262 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Nov. 1, I860. 



Crossbills {Loxia curmrostra). — During the 

 month of August I obtained four specimens of this 

 curious bird, shot within a short distance of this 

 town ; two males, one female, and one a young - bird 

 of this year. — J. W. L., Kington, Herefordshire. 



Nest of the Bullfinch (Pyrrhila vulgaris). — 

 Your correspondent W. R., in No. 21 of Science 

 Gossip, says, rightly, " There seems to be a strange 

 uncertainty amongst ornithologists respecting the 

 nest of the Bullfinch." The Rev. J. C. Atkinson, 

 in "British Birds' Nests and Eggs," says: "The 

 nest is made of twigs and roots and moss, rather 

 loosely constructed." Bewick gives "moss." Hewit- 

 son says, twigs, with a lining of wool and hair. 

 Bechstein, twigs covered with moss ; your cor- 

 respondent, W. B., " small twigs lined with 

 fibrous roots, and occasionally a few hairs." New- 

 man, "the dried stems of cleavers, fibrous roots, 

 &c. ; very slovenly in structure." The &c, which 

 is very unsatisfactory, is not mine. In a note on 

 this description (Zoologist, 7,610"), Mr. Crowley, 

 of Croydon, writes: "Most— I believe all— I have 

 seen are well lined with horse-hair. I have one, the 

 outer structure of which is almost entirely sheep's 

 wool/' Martin, in " Our Song-Birds," says : " The 

 nest is composed externally of the stems of grass, 

 wool, moss, and the deserted cocoons of insects ; 

 internally it is lined with fibre and hair." Dr. 

 Latham says : " She rarely uses moss." Within 

 the last feAV days, — indeed since the publication of 

 your September number, I have carefully examined 

 four nests,— two in the cabinet of a friend and two 

 of this year's nests fetched out of the wood. In 

 three the foundations of the nests were twigs of the 

 larch, and in the fourth twigs of birch, both of 

 which are common here. Upon the foundation is a 

 basket-worked nest made of grass roots (chiefly 

 bent), of a slovenly construction. In none of the 

 four was there the least trace of wool, moss, hair 

 or feathers ; and the whole were lined with fine 

 grass. The whole of the nests were slovenly built, 

 and had an unfinished appearance, being very slightly 

 hollow, so much so as to entitle them to be classed 

 with the platform-builders. The two plantings from 

 which these nests came are surrounded by fields in 

 which horses and sheep graze ; and in the hedge- 

 rows and brambles, locks of wool often hang for 

 weeks; so there is no lack of these materials. I have 

 seen nests with both wool and hair in the lining, but 

 feathers never. — Joint Hanson, Linton-on-Ouse, 

 York. 



Grand Lory. — Several species of parrots receive 

 the name of Lory ; but the Lory, par excellence, 

 which is probably the bird referred to, is the Lorius 

 domiciUa, a native of the Moluccas. A detailed 

 description and figure of this bird may be found in 

 " Knight's Cyclopaedia of Natural History," vol.iv., 

 article " Psittacidfe."— T. G. P. 



Blue Bird of Galilee.— H. G. inquires as to 

 this bird, mentioned by Renan. The bird that 

 learned author probably refers to is Cinnaris osea, 

 the Sun-bird or Iloneysucker of Palestine. — 

 T. G. P. 



Cement for Aquarium.— In answer to E. E. 

 W. K., I can inform him that 1 had an aquarium 

 for sea-water which leaked a good deal, and I used 

 Roman cement, and was not troubled afterwards. 

 After it has hardened, a little fresh water should be 

 put in for a few days— E. T. Scott. 



Names of Birds. — Can you give me any infor- 

 mation about books containing the history, haunts, 

 and habits of the following birds :— " Cordon - 

 bleue," " Wax-bills," or " Avadivats ? "— H. M. M., 

 Boulogne. 



Neutral Tint Reflector. — This contrivance is 

 undoubtedly the most comfortable, as well as the 

 cheapest, instrument for making drawings of objects 

 under the microscope. It has the difficulty men- 

 tioned by your correspondent C. S. Gardner, in 

 common with the camera lucida and other instru- 

 ments of the kind, of rendering both pencil-point 

 and drawing invisible, unless certain precautions are 

 taken. My own practice is to use two lamps, one 

 for the illumination of the microscope, the other for 

 the drawing-paper, which I prefer in the form of a 

 block or solid sketch-book. The illumination of the 

 object should be as slight as possible, only just 

 enough to render it visible ; the paper, on the con- 

 trary, should be well lighted : this will generally 

 render the process of tracing the outline very easy 

 after a little practice. No more should be attempted 

 with the reflector than to sketch the outline and 

 main points ; the detail must be executed afterwards 

 by free-hand drawing. These remarks apply to 

 drawing instruments in general as applied to the 

 microscope. The tinted reflector I use is supplied 

 with several glasses of different shades, which can be 

 changed at pleasure, as I find that work can be done 

 more easily by such an arrangement : the darker 

 glasses give a more brilliant image ; the paler ones 

 allow a clearer view of the pencil-point and draw- 

 ing. The distance between the reflector and eye- 

 glass should be as small as possible ; otherwise, with 

 deep eye-pieces, the field will be much cut off, a 

 very common fault in this instrument as usually 

 made. I also employ a right-angle prism, sliding 

 into the place of the tinted glasses : this gives a 

 total reflection, and enables the detail to be finished 

 by free-hand drawing without moving the micro- 

 scope. The view obtained by the prism is nearly as 

 perfect as that by direct vision. It also prevents 

 the embarrassment felt upon using the microscope 

 after the tinted mirror has been removed to finish 

 the drawing, caused by the reversal of the object, 

 as the tinted reflector has not, as the camera lucida, 

 a double reflection giving an erect image. Mine 

 was designed and made by Mr. Bailey, 162, Fen- 

 church Street, E. C. It is also made by Mr. Collins, 

 77, Great Titchfield Street, W. The camera lucida 

 is somewhat more trying to the eyes, but is perhaps 

 to be preferred on account of its more brilliant 

 reflection when drawing from an object illuminated 

 by reflected light or the parabola; for objects 

 illuminated by transmitted light, I decidedly prefer 

 the neutral tint or Beale reflector. — W. T. Suffolk, 

 F. M. S. L. 



Nidification of Rarer Birds.— In reply to 

 your correspondent " J. S." respecting the common 

 and Honey Buzzard, Marsh Hen, and ash-coloured 

 Harriers, I beg to say they all frequent this part of 

 the New Eorest, although their eggs, with the ex- 

 ception of the common buzzard, are extremely rare. 

 The eggs of the common and honey buzzard are 

 taken in this neighbourhood nearly every year. I 

 have a female honey buzzard and two young birds, 

 not fledged,, preserved, together with four eggs, all 

 taken in this neighbourhood this year. I also have 

 a fine living specimen of the female Hobby, very 

 tame, taken here this season. — F. W. Ilaydon, Ford- 

 ingbridge. 



