HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



141 



of a pale green, dull pink, and very beautiful orange 

 colour. On the South Downs Gaitiana amarella 

 ar.d campestris. Polygala vulgaris abounds on the 

 Downs, with the base of the corolla tinted as de- 

 scribed by "W.," but in our clamp woods and 

 meadows the only colour I can find on many white 

 specimens is a green line or two on the wings. On 

 Ashdown Eorest I have gathered Erica cinerea and 

 tetralix ; also Calluna vulgaris of a most pure and 

 beautiful white.— M. C. Allen, Barcombe, Sussex. 



The New Zealand Forests. — tc A. B., Kelso," 

 writes without practical knowledge of the pecu- 

 liarities of the flora of the New Zealand forests, 

 and the reasons he assigns for the difficulties met 

 in propagating most of the different species, not 

 being supported by facts or the results of experi- 

 ments, afford no enlightenment on the subject. 

 The Canterbury plains contain all sorts and varieties 

 of ''soil pretty well, yet, though the Tasmanian 

 Eucalyptus, some American trees, and all the 

 English fruit and forest trees thrive luxuriantly on 

 these plains, the cultivation of the indigenous trees 

 has^ never yet met with success. The seedlings 

 spring up under the shade of the parent trees in 

 abundance, but if transplanted die. If the seeds 

 be gathered and sown, some portion occasionally 

 vegetates, but the plants soon die or become sickly 

 and stunted. This is rather an unfortunate cir- 

 cumstance, as some of the native timber is really 

 very useful, and some of the trees, such as the 

 Totara, would be very ornamental if they could be 

 induced to grow about the homesteads on the plains. 

 I hope some NewZealand botanist will favour your 

 readers with his views and experience in the matter. 

 — A. D. Booking. 



Cat Suckling Squirrels. — A few weeks ago I 

 found a couple of young squirrels (S. vulgaris), 

 about a day or two old. Wishing to keep them, I 

 looked for some animal to suckle them. Luckily a 

 cat (a young one, and perhaps, therefore, rather 

 inexperienced) had kittened a day before, and I 

 therefore killed two of the kittens, and gave puss 

 the squirrels instead. She did not seem to mind 

 the change, and is suckling the two squirrels with 

 the_ remainder of her own offspring. They are 

 thriving very well, and to all appearance are as 

 healthy as if they had enjoyed the care of their own 

 mother. — E. A. 



Goole Scientific Society.— At a meeting held 

 in Goole on May 5th it was decided that a society 

 should be formed in that town for the cultivation of 

 science, to be called the Goole Scientific Society. 

 The meetings are to be held monthly, and during 

 the summer to take the form of excursions to places 

 of interest. M. A. Morris, Esq., was elected presi- 

 dent, and Dr. Parsons secretary. 



Mountain Linnet. — I found the nest of the 

 Mountain Linnet (Linota montinni) in the low land 

 about the river Trent this year. It was built on 

 the ground among young nettles ; the outside was 

 made of hay, the inside was lined with horsehair 

 and wool. The eggs, six in number, are white 

 dashed with green, spotted with red and brown. I 

 see in books on ornithology it is seldom found so 

 far south. Can any of your readers let me know if 

 it has been found in the Trent basin before ?~ 

 Lucie Woodrvffe. 



KeepingParrots.— "J. J. M." did not, I am afraid 

 feed his parrot in a proper manner. Parrots should 

 be given a great variety of food. Indian corn should 



form their staple article of diet, but they ought to be 

 supplied with ripe fruit of various kinds, such as 

 apples, oranges, nuts, &c. &c. Hemp and cauary- 

 seed may be given; and milk-and-bread most 

 parrots are very fond of. The bread must be scalded 

 before the milk is added to it. They should be 

 well supplied with fresh water, and during the 

 summer green food may be given. Clean tins are 

 very essential, for if the food or water is given in 

 tins in which there are any remains of food, the result 

 is almost sure to be illness of the bird, and perhaps 

 death. The parrots I have drink tea, coffee, and 

 milk, and sometimes they are allowed a bare bone 

 to amuse themselves with. They are in excellent 

 condition. I believe one of the secrets of keeping 

 parrots in excellent health and plumage is to allow 

 them liberty, for most of the cages in which they 

 are confined are far too small. Let them come out 

 of the cages and run or walk about; for, if always 

 kept in, diseases of the feet may be contracted. 

 Diarrhoea, one of the scourges of the parrot tribe, is 

 easier to prevent than to cure. If a bird is afflicted 

 with it, the diet ought to be immediately changed. 

 Hard-boiled egg and Indian corn should be given, 

 and the bird placed in a warm room.—/. T. T. R. 



A Canine Oddity.— A friend of mine a few months 

 ago bought a black retriever from the Dogs' Home, 

 which at present has got the distemper, and one of its 

 eyes has turned a bright blue colour, while the 

 other is a blackish-brown ; he, thinking the dog was 

 getting blind, took it to a man professing to be a 

 great dog doctor, who informed him that, as soon as 

 it got over the malady from which it was suffering, 

 its eye would most likely return to its original 

 colour. I have no doubt that the majority of dogs 

 that are occasionally met with, having differently 

 coloured eyes, have been severely attacked when 

 joung by the distemper or some analogous com- 

 plaint— C. P. Hall. 



Do Fishes utter Sounds ?— Havins: seen the 

 above subject brought up in the " Notes and 

 Queries" of Science-Gossip, I venture to state an 

 instance that came under my father's notice whilst 

 travelling iu the interior of the island of Ceylon, in 

 company with a few other gentlemen, when crossing 

 a large lake in a canoe. As they proceeded, they 

 suddenly heard a peculiar singing sound in the 

 distance, which by degrees arose from all parts of 

 the lake ; the only sound that they could compare it 

 to, was a great number of ^Eolian harps heard from 

 a distance. The natives who were in the canoe at 

 the time informed them that it was caused by a 

 species of fish, which they designated by the name of 

 "singing fish," and that it was not a very uncommon 

 occurrence to hear them on fine nights. At first they 

 did not credit the information of the natives — true, 

 but after listening intently for some time, they 

 satisfactorily found out that the sound certainly 

 did come from some inhabitant of the water. — C. F. 

 Hall. 



Gooseberry Caterpillar.— The assumption of 

 superior knowledge by Castle Barnes (p. 91) is 

 rather amusing. His entomological observations 

 would appear to have been rather limited if he has 

 hitherto only found the larva of Halia wavaria 

 common on gooseberry-trees. "A. N." (p. 46) is 

 very ready to hastily contradict Mrs. Watney. 

 That lady was perfectly correct in her statement, as 

 regards the larva of Abraxas grossulariata, or 

 currant- moth, as every entomologist knows. The 

 distinction between it and the larva of Nematus 



