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HARDWICKE'S SC1EN CE- GOS SIP. 



the'roots may manage to find it, and the whole tree 

 is not lost : by the time "spring comes round again 

 the tree gets enough to support life, but its beauty 

 is destroyed. Whole rows of trees are frequently 

 lost from this cause in the neighbourhood of grow- 

 ing towns. I do not know the banks of the Taw, 

 but if " W. A." will inquire, he will most likely find 

 something connected with the fall of the water-line 

 in the district in question which will account for 

 the death of the trees.— Alfred Carpenter; M.D., 

 Croydon. 



Coccinella— Perhaps Mr. Anderson would be 

 interested to know that the perfect insect Cocci- 

 nella is as voracious as the larvse, and feeds upon 

 and destroys great numbers of aphides.— IT. Gould, 

 Hadley. 



The Rookeries of Old London.— Of late years 

 the word " rookery "_ has come to be used in a 

 double sense, so that it is necessary to state that I 

 am alluding to rookeries having as their occupants 

 individuals clothed in feathers, ^belonging to the 

 class Aves. I do not know that sufficient im- 

 portance has been attached to the fact that the 

 rook is fond of human society, which might claiai 

 for it a' little more pity than it gets from fanners ; 

 and that it has shown this by its demeanour in 

 London and its suburbs, bravely maintaining its 

 position in spite of noise, and being subject to actual 

 bad usage. No longer, however, do rooks visit the 

 traditional nest in Wood-street, Cheapside; and it 

 would be curious to know for how long a time a 

 solitary pair and their'descendants did frequent this, 

 because it is opposed to the usual habit of the 

 species to associate in colonies. I have even heard 

 it conjectured that the later tenants of this nest 

 were crows. Can any one authenticate this ? Rooks 

 still come, I believe, to the Temple and Gray's Inn 

 Gardens.-/. R. S. C. 



r Birds and Elowebs.— Having read with interest 

 several notes both in Science -Gossip and Nat /ire, 

 the last few months, of the ravages made by birds 

 upon the crocuses and other early spring flowers, 

 and having carefully watched the same devastations 

 as in former years in our own garden this spring, I 

 venture to send to your magazine the following 

 remarks:— In flower-gardens the house-sparrow 

 (Pyrgita domestical does some little mischief, espe- 

 cially among the gay blossoms of early spring. 

 Crocuses and primroses they seem to prefer ; with 

 us they take the yellow and purple crocuses, mostly 

 leaving the white ones, though sometimes they, like 

 the others, have been bitten off at the bottom of the 

 long tube close to the sheath. Whether they do this 

 to get to the sweet nectar, or in search of insects, 

 or for mischief, it is difficult to decide. It is known 

 that the sparrow will often pick off the blossoms of 

 the cherry, apparently (by those who have watched 

 them) for mere amusement; therefore it is more 

 than probable that the same mischievous birds may 

 have snipped off the flowers of the common black- 

 thorn, as suggested by R. A. Pryor in Nature, 

 vol. xii. page 26, May, 1875. We have again also 

 experienced great ravages amongst our primrose 

 roots, which grow in great abundance in our planta- 

 tions and orchard, while the polyanthuses, auriculas, 

 and cowslips remain untouched. During the first 

 week in April, most days, a handful of the scat- 

 tered blossoms were brought in for me to see. Some 

 were snipped off at the top of the stalk, just as if 

 scissors had cut them off; others again had the 

 corolla pulled away, leaving the calyx with the 



pistil remaining on the stalk, while in several 

 instances part of the_ petals had been eaten away. 

 We are inclined to think the chaffinches and black- 

 birds destroy mostly the primroses, as from the 

 window I watched one of the latter birds, a fine 

 large fellow, walk slowly round one of the beds 

 bordered with this lovely plant, deliberately picking 

 off here and there the flowers. There can be little 

 doubt the sweetness of the primrose tempts the 

 birds in early spring to commit these ravages, and, 

 may be, they flud insects too, though we may not. 

 One fact I have each year noticed,— that when there 

 is plenty of other food the birds like better, they 

 leave our favourites alone. — E. Edwards. 



Anecdote of a Sheep. — Among the many anec- 

 dotes illustrating the instinct and intelligence of the 

 lower animals, we seldom meet with annals of the 

 sheep. That little beast, with its mild, not to say 

 stupid, physiognomy, is held to be a type of patience 

 and gentleness, but it is not often credited with 

 much sagacity or affection. The following incident 

 may perhaps help to raise the " woolly people " in 

 our estimation in these respects. During the dry 

 months of the summer of 1874, the pastures became 

 very short of keep. It was pitiable to see the 

 flocks wandering from end to end of the dry sand- 

 coloured fields, nibbling the scanty supply of hay- 

 like grass. Our garden and lawns are separated by 

 iron railings from a meadow, occupied during this 

 dry time by a flock of sheep, and we were often in 

 the habit of throwing over any green shoots or 

 clippings for their benefit. On the occasion I refer 

 to we had collected a goodly heap of green branches, 

 which were soon surrounded by an eager group. 

 They were all at work browsing on the leaves, when 

 our attention was attracted by the excited manner 

 and loud baa-ing of one sheep. Instead of enjoying 

 himself, hewas anxiously gazing towards an adjoining 

 meadow occupied by a part of the flock, separated 

 by iron railings, but from which access was possible 

 by skirting a pond. The sheep's cry was a loud call 

 to his equally needy neighbours to come and share 

 the feast. It was soon responded to from the far 

 field, but the distant flock failed to comprehend the 

 case. In a minute or two off trotted the calling 

 sheep, scampered at full speed across the field, still 

 loudly crying, nor did he cease his efforts till he had 

 guided them round the pond to the only place of 

 exit ; and then he returned triumphantly, with a 

 train of followers, in time happily to find a tolerable 

 meal still remaining. Could unselfishness and kind- 

 ness meet a better illustration ?—J. E. A. B. 



A Curious Pear-tree. — I have a pear-tree 

 called the " Martyr Pear." It is of great size and 

 aged ; the ground it occupies ouce formed a part of 

 an inclosed garden to an ancient monastic building, 

 which was probably erected in the fifteenth century 

 and occupied by the monks of that, period. This 

 tree, however, must have been planted at a much 

 later date, when the land adjacent formed a part of 

 Windsor Great Eorest. The fruit is four inches 

 long and about two and a half inches in diameter, 

 rough-coated, with a tinge of green and pink, dark 

 red inside and fine flavour. When fairly divided 

 down the centre, the pips may be seen to bleed, and 

 have the appearance of a " martyr," from whence 

 it derives its name.— Thomas C. Oborn, Tangley Parle, 

 Guildford. 



Bombyx Keustria. — On June 14th a larva of 

 Bombyx Neustria changed into a pupa, and next day 

 eleven brownish oval chrysalides came out of it. 



