ll6 THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [hs-march, ,906 



away from contact with the ice. The hatching occurs in seven weeks, in 

 the coldest month (August), with recorded temperature as low as 6o° below 

 zero Fahrenheit. The great majority die, largely because the adults quarrel 

 over the chickens. (G A. Wilson, Nature, 73:211. Dec. 28, '05). 



The Dugong. The January number of the American Naturalist has an 

 account of recent studies of this interesting sirenian, which is closely related 

 to the manatee (sea-cow). The low flat coast of East Australia is one of 

 the favorite haunts of the animals, which feed on various sea "grasses" grow- 

 ing on the bottom of the shallow bays. It is not known to live in brackish 

 waters at mouths of rivers, but it remains in the outer ocean during the day 

 and at night enters the bays to feed. Being a lung-breather (mammal) it 

 must regularlv come to the surface for air. 



Pelican Reservation. The great brown pelican, formerly abundant but 

 now rare, is still found on islands in the Indian river 200 miles below Jack- 

 sonville, Florida. One of the islands is now a Government reservation and 

 a resident warden has put an end to the former butchering. An interesting 

 point relating to habits is that the pouch is said not to carry fish to the young 

 in the nest, as is popularly believed. These and other notes on habits are 

 given by C. F. Wolf in the February Sbie/J's Magazine. 



Flying-Fish. C. D. Durnford, writing in the lanuary American Natu- 

 ralist, takes up the old controversy as to whether flying-fish do or do not flap 

 their wings in flight. His own observations and mechanical considerations 

 (such as the size of wings) lead to the conclusion that the common flight is 

 due to rapid wing movement, and is not sailing like an aeroplane. Contrary 

 to a common opinion, the fish are said to have power of steering in flight. 



Fossil Insects. Near Florissant, in Colorado, fossil insects are very 

 abundant, over 500 species having been found preserved in the fine mud and 

 sand deposited during Tertiary times. ( T. D. A. Cockerell, in En torn. 

 Nezvs, Jan., 1906.) 



Introduction of Bees to Australia. Indigenous honey-producing flora- 

 abound both on the continent of America and in Australia, vet it is a singular 

 fact that the most diligent search of the entomologist and other naturalists 

 failed to discover any social honey bee having a commercial value. Certainly 

 there is a bee of the genus Apis indigenous in America, but the hive-bee was 

 an introduction. 



In Australia, the greatest honey insect is the so-called native bee. Trigona 

 carbonaria. The native bee of America belongs to the family Melipoma, 

 and does not occur elsewhere, but the bee Trigona is found in Africa and 



