HARDWICKE'S SCIEN CE-QOSSIP.' 



189 



species, or else he must make a mistake in calling 

 it "a perfect specimen of the Lime Hawk." — C. B. 



Moths' Wings.— Under this heading, a corre- 

 spondent in the June number asks whether moths 

 fold their wings over their backs as butterflies, and 

 goes on to say he caught what he thought was a 

 moth, but it had this peculiarity. I would ask 

 wliether or not he examined the antenna; of this 

 insect, and if he did so, where they pointed or 

 clubbed ? I consider you cannot tell a moth from 

 a butterfly by any other means, and the only rule to 

 take is "that the antennaj in a moth are always 

 pointed, and in a butterfly are always clubbed." I 

 saw a journal the other day, called the Young 

 Fancier's Guide, in which several means were given 

 for ascertaining whether an insect is a butterfly^or 

 a moth ; amongst the list 1 noticed, they said, " a 

 butterfly always folds its wings over its back, a 

 moth never," or at any rate, something tantamount 

 to it. Now I have caught moths with their wings 

 folded in this manner, and therefore I must presume 

 the author of the passage must have made a mis- 

 take.— <?. B. 



Cuckoos and their Young. — Last year a 

 cuckoo laid its egg in an espalier apple-tree about 

 four or five yards from our greenhouse-door. _ I do 

 not know the name of the foster mother, but it was 

 a small brown bird, a tree-creeper of some kind, not 

 much bigger than a wren ; the male had a long tail. 

 We were looking over the tree when we saw the 

 large red open mouth of the cuckoo. I gave it at 

 the time a ripe raspberry which it ate, but I soon 

 found that it did not quite like it, and I fed it with 

 worms to help the poor foster mother, who had 

 enough to do to get the cuckoo food. She would 

 bring its food to it while we were standing quite 

 near, and in a few days the cuckoo got quite to 

 know us and looked out to be fed, and in the course 

 of some two or three weeks it would climb about 

 the tree, and allow itself to be handled without fear. 

 When it got able to fly a little, it would always 

 come with me when digging in the garden, and wait 

 for worms to be given it ; sometimes perched on the 

 ground or on a stalk. In this latter position, it was 

 curious to see its nurse feed it, being such a small 

 bird. It used to come and perch on the cuckoo's 

 back, and so feed it. When the cuckoo was welljable 

 to fly, it used at night to come after us to be fed, 

 and then flew away to roost in some large ash-trees 

 a little way off. In the morning it would come back 

 to the garden, and would come when called. It 

 would let us know when it was near by a peculiar 

 noise, something like the scraping of a wheel, but 

 very low. The birds did not seem to care much for 

 it, but were all remarkably tame, and came to be 

 fed quite as a matter of course. Robins and sparrows 

 would all come at my call, and I have seen the 

 robins take a worm away from the cuckoo. We 

 never saw any appearance of the mother cuckoo 

 feeding its young, though I fancy about the time 

 when the cuckoos leave the country the mother 

 used to come to see, I suppose, how the young one 

 was going on. Long after it could fly it would 

 allow itself to be taken off a tree into the hand, and 

 to be carried about the garden perched on the 

 finger. I am sorry to say that one day it dis- 

 appeared, and we saw it no more. — E. T. Scott. 



Green Caterpillaes. — I should feel grateful to 

 any of your numerous readers who can suggest some 

 method' of exterminating the green caterpillar which 

 is now, and was last year, infesting the gooseberry 



trees in the gardens of myself and neighbours in 

 the district of Clapham ; they appear suddenly upon 

 the trees and devour the whole of the leaves, and 

 thereby cause the fruit to wither and fall off. Any 

 suggestion that would prevent a recurrence of the 

 plague, would confer a great favour on myself and 

 friends. — F. R., Clapham. 



The unknown Plants referred to in your last 

 impression, page 165, and somewhat ambiguously 

 described by your correspondent "K. F. L.," are pro- 

 bably : 1. Listera ovata (R. 13r.), Tway-blade. 2. 

 Orobanche minor (Sust.), a parasite upon the roots 

 of clover principally. 3. Allium ursinum (L.), Ram- 

 son's garlic. Gerard in his work (1597), page 142, 

 says he found the latter plant " in the next field unto 

 Boobies' barn, under that hedge that bordereth upon 

 the lane, and also upon the left hand under a hedge 

 adjoining to a lane that leadeth to Hampsteede, 

 both places neere London." Who can now point 

 out those localities ? — B. M. W. 



Adder and Mole. — In the February number of 

 SciENCE-GossiP there is an account of the "Snake 

 and the Toad," by M. A. Livett. I myself was once 

 witness, some years ago, to an ahnost parallel inci- 

 dent. Being out one J une afternoon in search of 

 marl fossils at the base of the Downs, above Vent- 

 nor, in an angle of the Down, inclosed by two 

 fences, and where the sun's rays poured down with 

 unusual warmth, I encountered a large adder lying 

 on the top of a stone that had fallen out of the fence 

 above. At first sight I took it for a toad, but when 

 it uncoiled itself, which it did when it saw me and 

 tried to escape, I saw my error, and that it was the 

 above-mentioned reptile, which had gorged itself 

 with something that had caused it to resemble a 

 huge tadpole in appearance. On the spur of the 

 moment I threw my fossil-hammer at it, which 

 completely disabled it ; and on examining it I found 

 that the creature had swallowed a full-grown mole, 

 and when I disturbed it was in the act of taking its 

 siesta after its repast. — Mark W. Norman. 



Unknown Plants. — In answer to " K. F. L." 

 in your last, re unknown plants. The first would 

 appear to be Listera ovata or L. cordata, but 

 " K. F. L." does not describe the leaves. If the 

 writer is certain as to the second being an orchid, it 

 may be Listera nidus-avis ; but if not, I would 

 suggest it being an Orobanche or Lathraa squamaria. 

 He says, "growing in this neighbourhood," but the 

 locality is not named. It is next to impossible to 

 name plants upon such scanty data without seeing 

 them, but if " K. F. L." will correspond with me, I 

 shall be happy to do all that lies in my power towards 

 helping him to recognize his specimens. — H. Mar- 

 shall Ward. 



Tachina Flies.— On three several occasions 

 Tachina flies have been hatclied from eggs of the 

 squash-bug [Coreus tristis, De Geer). Is this fact 

 commonly known ? — H. N., Knoxville, Tenn., U. S. 



Entomological Query. — There can be no doubt 

 but that the wasp which Mr. C. Lovekin wishes 

 named (page 118) is a species of Feloptsus, or mud- 

 dauber, as it is commonly called. A detailed 

 description of it can be found in Wood's " Homes 

 without Hands," page 374. Pockard notices them 

 also; the Tarantula-killer •(-Po/;;ji5«7«s/emos«5, Say) 

 is also noticed in his work. — S. M. B. 



Mouth op the Crane-fly.— May I beg the 

 favour of your inserting the following errata with re- 

 ference to my paper on the mouth of the crane-fly ; 



