HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



69 



lating. It is to be feared that the growing taste for 

 natural history is in too many cases merely a taste for 

 collecting, and our wild plants and birds suffer in 

 consequence so that many species are likely soon to 

 become extinct. — W. Ward. 



Birds and Buds. — We are much favoured by the 

 birds here, but, as is to be expected, they levy a 

 very heavy toll on fruit buds, and later on fruits. I 

 will not allow any to be shot or trapped. On reading 

 the number for this month, I find a reference in Mr. 



's letter to a windmill and bell which appears to 



be used for frightening birds. Can you favour me 

 with any particulars about it, and where it can be got ? 

 — B. B., Kenley, S.O. 



Fatal accident to a Sparrow. — The following 

 account of a fatal accident to a sparrow may be of 

 interest, as it demonstrates the force with which birds 

 propel themselves. My man, while passing to-day 

 (20th December, 1889), through the haggard, was 

 struck on the back of his hand by a sparrow which 

 formed one of a small flock that was as usual feeding 

 on what grain they could find, and was disturbed by 

 the sound of his footsteps. The sparrows came round 

 a stack and could not have been more than a couple of 

 yards from the spot whence they started, and yet the 

 bird by which the man was hit was flying with such 

 velocity that its beak penetrated the flesh for one 

 eighth of an inch, and it was instantly killed by the 

 blow. I have seen as many as five greenfinches dash 

 themselves to death on a dark night by darting against 

 the window of my library, whither they were attracted 

 by the lamp-light inside the blinds, but this incident 

 of" the sparrow is more curious. — H. W. Lett. 



Vandal Naturalists. — Mr. J. P. Nunn, in 

 Science-Gossip for January, 1890, says that he 

 believes the great majority of birds' nests are forsaken 

 when the clutches of eggs are disturbed. If this 

 were the fact it j would be a strong argument in 

 favour of egg-collectors taking clutches, but 

 experiments I have made have satisfied me that this 

 is not the case. The one thing nesting birds do 

 object to is being startled while on their nests ; if 

 you make a sitting-bird leave her nest in a great 

 fright she will probably never return to it again, but 

 if you walk up to her quietly, and coax her off gently, 

 you may experiment with her eggs without causing 

 her to forsake her nest. I have substituted all sorts 

 of things for the first few eggs of a bird, and found 

 that she has completed her clutch notwithstanding. 

 Referring to my notes of such experiments, I find 

 that I have substituted for the eggs of the reed- 

 warbler small pebbles, mud rolled up into balls, bits 

 of wood, and even saloon pistol cartridges, and still 

 the bird has gone on laying, in some cases throwing 

 out the foreign bodies, in other cases allowing them 

 to remain in the nest. For the eggs of the lesser red- 

 poll I have substituted those of the sedge-warbler, 

 and even leaden bullets, and the bird has not for- 

 saken her nest. Reed-buntings and yellow-hammers 

 I found invariably threw out pebbles or other birds' 

 eggs placed in their nests, but still continue to lay in 

 those same nests. The magpie and the dipper 

 continued to lay after stones had been substituted for 

 eggs, and even a wood-pigeon, which many text- 

 books on ornithology tell one will forsake its eggs if 

 one so much as touches them, laid its second egg 

 after a stone has been substituted for its first. I have 

 experimented with many other birds with similar 

 results ; the house-sparrow is the only bird I have 

 found to quickly resent any interference with its 

 eggs. One may generally take two eggs out of a 

 nest containing five and not substitute anything for 



them, without the slightest fear of causing the bird to 

 forsake. I once took the first two eggs from a rook's 

 nest, leaving the nest empty, and the bird went on 

 laying therein, and eventually hatched out three 

 young ones. The bird must lay her full clutch of 

 eggs, she has a nest ready to receive them, and, as I 

 said before, fear for her own safety is the one thing 

 that causes her to forsake her nest. If birds were as 

 knowing about their eggs as Mr. Nunn would have 

 us believe, the eggs of the cuckoo would stand a very 

 poor chance of being incubated. The facts I have 

 related above show that a collector does not cause a 

 bird to forsake its nest when he takes one or two 

 eggs out of it. Mr. Nunn says that " the physical 

 strain from a bird having to lay a second clutch is 

 nil, or the poor hens which supply us with our daily 

 egg for breakfast would soon all die of inanition." 

 I don't think Mr. Nunn can be a poultry keeper. 

 There is a process known amongst pigeon fanciers as 

 " pumping " a bird, which means getting a hen pigeon 

 to lay several clutches of eggs in quick succession by 

 taking the eggs away from her and hatching them 

 under pigeons of inferior breed. Now it is well- 

 known that a pigeon's constitution is very much 

 impaired by being " pumped." The "poor hens " also 

 must have a large supply of food given to them, more 

 than they could possibly find as wild birds, in order 

 to induce them to supply us with our "daily egg" ; 

 moreover, under this treatment, after the first two 

 years of their lives, they are practically useless for 

 laying purposes. Therefore, if clutch collectors rob 

 a bird of its clutch of eggs several times in succes- 

 sion, its constitution will be weakened and it will 

 very soon be rendered a barren bird. I think most 

 people will agree that a bird's "chance" is con- 

 siderably better when it is allowed to keep three eggs 

 instead of none at all. I have been hoping that Mr. 

 Nunn would bring forward some real arguments in 

 favour of clutch collecting ; at present he contents 

 himself with calling non-clutch collectors "pilferers" 

 and "mawkish sentimentalists." Well, if the birds 

 were to be asked their opinion, I think they would 

 say, " We are not very fond of the ' pilferers,' but we 

 positively hate the wholesale robbers ! " — E. W. H. 

 Blogg, Cheadle, Staffs. 



Animalcula. — Your correspondent, " Medica," 

 having gracefully acknowledged her fault, I wish to 

 acknowledge mine ; but with this explanation : The 

 feminine form of the signature did not escape my 

 notice, but somehow the idea had fixed itself firmly 

 in my mind that the writer was a man, and without 

 giving the matter a moment's further consideration I 

 jumped to the conclusion that "Medica" was a 

 misprint, but decided to copy it literally. The 

 existence of lady-doctors did not occur to me — 

 perhaps from never having seen one. — W. P. H. 



Birds' Eggs, November number (p. 258). — In 

 answer to the inquiry of Mr. W. W. Reeves, it is well 

 known that the markings on birds' eggs are easily 

 removed with soap and water. The lines and spots 

 on the eggs of the chaffinch, the buntings, the wind- 

 hover and other hawks, soon disappear when the shells 

 are rubbed with a damp cloth. Egg-collectors should 

 therefore handle such eggs as little and as carefully 

 as possible.— W. H. Warner, Fy field, Abingdoti. 



Sea Monsters. — On the 18th of November last, 

 according to an account that appeared in " The 

 Echo " newspaper, a gigantic squid, the repiesentative 

 of our old friend the great sea serpent, was to be 

 seen, washed on shore, at Dugort, in Achill Islands, 

 on the west coast of Mayo. It was stranded for some 

 months on one of the outlying reefs at the entrance 



