The Scottish Naturalist. 201 



taken to protect the crop by a libei-al use of powder and shot. The attack on 

 the turnip seed, which, it would appear, is not unlikely to jeopardise the crop, 

 has, it is stated, not been made by foreign, but by local varieties of birds, 

 amorg which sparrows are said to predominate. The fact that not until the 

 present season have their ravages been observed among the early sown turnips 

 is therefore all the more inexplicable. It would be interesting, and might be 

 of advantage to farmers, could light be thrown on this phenomenon. 



To the Editor of the Free Press. 



Sir, — Birds have for long been known in Ireland as very destructive to the 

 young turnip crop, and precautions are almost universally adopted by farmers, 

 especially in the case of late sowings, to prevent their ravages. Fortunately, 

 it is for a very short time — not more than a day — when the plants are just 

 coming through the ground, and before they are visible above the surface, that 

 they are exposed to these attacks ; and vigilance during this period, along with 

 the liberal use of powder and shot, or even of powder alone, is generally 

 sufficient to prevent serious damage. If, however, these steps are not taken, 

 the birds make a complete clearance of the young plants as they rise with the 

 seed on the tips of their leaves ; only the stalks are left, and re-sowing becomes 

 necessary. The birds most destructive are linnets, green and grey, and not 

 sparrow-. 



Owing to the mild winter, birds are much more plentiful than usual this 

 year, which may perhaps in some measure account for the phenomenon now 

 noted regarding their attacks on the turnip crop. — Yours, &c, J. C. 



May 31st, 18S4. 



ON FINDING AN EGG WITH A STONE IN IT. -On Culbleen, above 

 Loch Kinnord, I came upon a Red Grouse's {Lagopus Scoticus) nest, containing 

 five eggs. The nest had evidently been deserted for some time. On blowing 

 one of the eggs, I found a small stone, a piece of disintegrated granite, probably 

 like those used by the bird for digesting her food. Query — How could the 

 stone have got into the egg ? Tom Roy. 



[We had the opportunity of examining the stone, which is a fragment of granite 

 about the size of a seed of the common field vetch. It is most probable that 

 the stone was imbedded in the white of the egg, though its exact position is 

 unknown. The only intelligible explanation would seem to be that the stone 

 had in some way passed into the cloacal orifice of the oviduct, and had been 

 carried up (? by spasmodic contractions of the duct) to beyond the situation 

 where the shell is secreted. — Ed. Scot. A r at.] 



LEPIDOPTERA IN ROXBURGHSHIRE. 



From a paper under this name by Mr. Adam Elliot in the Proceedings of the 

 Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, vol. X., No. I, the following notes are 

 extracted, as the species to which they refer are not recorded for " Tweed" in 

 the lists of Scottish Lepidoptera that were published in this Magazine in past 

 years : — Colias Editsa, recurrent and extremely uncertain in its appearance, 

 although seen in both the eastern and western districts ; Canonympha Davus, 

 in particular spots of the Border hills ; Trochilium bembeciforme, common in 

 the larval condition in stems of Salix alba ; Clostera rcclusa ; Demas Coryli is 

 generally distributed though scarce ; Nonagria lutosa was twice taken in 1880 ; 

 Caradrina blanda several in 1SS1 ; Agrotis saucia ; Triphana subsequa S. V. 

 occurs as a very dark form; Noctua conjJua ; i\ T . umbrosa ; Tceniocampa 

 munda ; Orthosia stispecta ; 0. Upsilon ; Anchocdis lunosa ; Epunda 



