HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



45 



vent, two pairs of fins (pectorals) near the head, no 

 others, snout pointed, teeth long and sharp, back 

 various shades of brown, blotched with a lighter 

 lemon-colour, sides dusky, belly white, a pointed ap- 

 pendage below the mouth an inch and a quarter in 

 length ; caught at Scarbro'. The other day, I bought 

 some witches, said to be a deep-sea fish, caught in 

 large numbers on the northern coast, but which I 

 cannot identify with any common fish. On referring 

 to some notes on flat fish taken from Yarrel's work, 

 I find it most nearly agrees with the Craig Fleuk, 

 but this is stated to be rare. My fish were sole-shaped, 

 but much lighter in colour, being of an almost 

 uniform light brown, inclined to pink, that is when I 

 purchased them ; they must have been out of the water 

 one day, perhaps two; lateral line rough, and I think, 

 straight, the slight apparent curvature was caused, I 

 believe, by the cut made to extract the viscera. The 

 layer weighed a pound and a half, was fifteen inches 

 from snout to tail, and five and a half broad between 

 the fins, or eight inches including the breadth of fins. 

 The ear-bones were large in comparison to the size of 

 the fish, and could be seen through the thin walls of 

 the skull, covering the greater portions of the brain ; 

 their shape was unusual, discoid, resembling one of 

 the Scarbro' " Thumb-flints."— /K A. G. Tuxford. 



Earthworms. — Your correspondent, W. Budden, 

 Esq., may help me perhaps to solve two questions 

 that occurred to me while reading Darwin's latest 

 book. I. In what position were the paper-triangles 

 placed with reference to the worms ? — for surely this 

 would influence them as to where they should lay 

 hold of them. 2. What would happen were paper 

 footstalks to be put on the triangles? — A. M. 



Early Nesting. — A blackbird's nest containing 

 three newly laid eggs, was found in a garden at 

 Edgbaston, about the middle of November. The 

 weather has been very mild here. — Geo. F. IVhecldon. 



Names of Flowers. — In my grandmother's 

 garden, many years ago, grew a flower, which she 

 always called a " Loveanidle." As I grew oldei-, I 

 found it was more commonly called " Heart's-ease ;" 

 and on asking my father, who was a great reader of 

 Shakespeare, the meaning of the older names, he 

 referred me to Oberon, and bid me notice that some 

 of the flowers were purple, while others retained 

 their original "milk-white" colour. Will any one, 

 in return for this information, tell me why, in Dorset, 

 Orchis viascida is called " Soldier's Jackets " ? If your 

 anonymous correspondent will send me an address, I 

 may get him some white heather next autumn, it is 

 not uncommon about here. — Julia Colson. 



Heather. — Last year I found a small quantity of 

 white heather at Caradale on the East Coast of 

 Cantire, X.B., at about sea-level, and in July last, a 

 tuft, about a foot in diameter on the moors above 

 Redmires (1300 feet above sea-level), about six miles 

 west of Sheffield : although I have spent much time 

 on these moors I have never before seen any white 

 heather on them, and thought that the colour of that 

 which I found was due to accident, and that it was 

 not a separate variety from the purple ; this opinion 

 was strengthened by my finding, about the same 

 time, a root of white hair- bells. I am told that a little 

 white heather was gathered at Port Erin, Isle of 

 Man, last year. — Thomas Winder, Sheffield. 



Heather, — I see in Science-Gossip of this 

 month that a correspondent wishes to know whether 

 the white variety of heather is uncommon. In reply 

 I beg to say that I noticed it very frequently while 



shooting this year in Perthshire, both of the common 

 heather, and of both varieties of "bell" heather. I 

 notice also that the foliage of the white varieties is of 

 a lighter brighter green than that of the usual colour. 

 I have myself never seen the white varieties except in 

 Scotland. — C. S. G. 



White HE.\TnER. — Seeing in December's number 

 of Science-Gossip a query regarding white heather, 

 I send the following for the information of the 

 inquirer and others whom it may interest. Last year, 

 and the year previous, when grouse shooting on the 

 Lammermuirs in Haddingtonshire, I frequently came 

 across patches or stray plants of the white heather, in 

 fact I hardly remember shooting a single day without 

 seeing some of it. It had a small flower, smaller thaa 

 that of the purple heather amongst which it was 

 growing. The patches were invariably small, gene- 

 rally about a foot in diameter, though more often it 

 was found growing as a single plant with one or two 

 flowering shoots. — A. P. L. 



Shore Lark. — I have a young cock shore lark 

 [Alaiida alpestris) caught with some skylarks at the 

 end of October, 1881, near Stamford Hill, Clapton, 

 which I have now in my possession in perfect health 

 and coming very nicely on song. — L. IF. Hadler. 



Parrots and their Food. — If the friend of your 

 correspondent W. E. B. in the December number of 

 Science-Gossip is in the habit of giving the parrot 

 animal food, that will account for the bird pluckinn- 

 out its head and back feathers. I have had an 

 Australiangrey parrot for about fifteen years, which is 

 always in perfect plumage, unless when moulting. His 

 food consists chiefly of canary seed, a spray of millet 

 seed and a hard crust of bread or a biscuit. When in 

 moult a little maw seed. His green food consists of 

 chickweed, and when in seed he is very fond of it. 

 Clean water is always at his command, of which he 

 drinks sparingly about twice a day. Animal food 

 he has never had offered to him. A friend of mine 

 has an Australian parrot, and about two years a"-o 

 " Polly " plucked out all its feathers it could reach. 

 I was asked for a reason ; my answer was, do not 

 give him any meat, knowing as I did the bird was 

 given bones to pick. This not being by my friend 

 considered a satisfactory solution of her inquiries, 

 I was asked to consult a naturalist, which I did ; and 

 received the same advice as that offered by me. This 

 piece of advice was carefully attended to, and re- 

 sulted in " Polly " regaining its natural plumage in 

 a short time, and I believe still retains it. — J. Id. M. 



Do Parrots require Water ? — Some years 

 since I had one of the small Australian parrots 

 {Melopsittaciis tcndulafus) which was very tame and a 

 pet. I never saw it drink ; after a wliile I ceased to 

 give it water, and I know that during four or six 

 months (I forget which) it had none in its cage. The 

 food it had was the ordinary diy bird-seeds, and the 

 room it was in was very dry from the daily use of fire 

 and gas. After that time although water was kept in 

 the cage I never saw it drink, and very seldom wash 

 itself. During the time it was thus treated, the bird 

 was active and lively, and continued so for about two 

 years afterwards, almost to the day of its death. As 

 parts of Australia are subject to such long and exces- 

 sive droughts, this appears to be another illustration of 

 the wonderful adaptation of animals to the conditions 

 under which they live. It is worthy of remark that 

 in Gould's " Birds of Australia," Captain Shaw states 

 that the nature of its food (grass seeds), and the ex- 

 cessive heat of the plains compel it frequently to 

 seek the water and drink.— C. A. Rou<eU. 



