igo 



HARDWICKE'S SCJENCE-GOSSIF. 



Birds Tapping at the Window.— I have 

 been in the habit of feeding the sparrows from my 

 bedroom window early in the morning ; should I be 

 rather late they tap at the window and call, and con- 

 tinue to do so until I give them the usual bread 

 crumbs. When the young ones can fly a little the 

 hen bird brings one and puts it in a warm corner of 

 the window sill, and then taps vigorously at the 

 glass, and stretches her neck to peep into the room. 

 —H. M. Hardu'icke. 



Large Carp. — A week or two ago (beginning of 

 May) a large carp was found dead in a reservoir in 

 this parish : a friend who passed by when it was 

 taken out measured it carefully with these results : 

 length 27^ in., depth 7J in., scales I in. X 1 3 in. — 

 Unfortunately he had no means of weighing it. I 

 should be glad to hear of instances of larger carp. — 

 K. D., Cofton Hackett. 



Coccus viTis-viNiFER^. — Can any of your nume- 

 rous readers inform me whether the Cocais vitis- 

 vinifera: (Linnaeus) so accurately described in White's 

 '* Selborne " (letter 53 to Mr. Barrington), is of 

 common occurrence in England now? White 

 mentions it as being uncommon. I observed it a 

 year or two ago on a vine at Blackheath, and some 

 time afterwards came across White's description, from 

 which I recognised this insect at once. — C. F. 

 Worters. 



Befs. — A swarm of bees came out' of a large flat- 

 topped skip, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon of Thurs- 

 day, the 24th of June, 1881, and settled in the topmost 

 boughs of an elm-tree close by : the tree was rather 

 tall, so the owner would not risk his life (as it was 

 rather an awkward place), nor allow his man to do so, 

 trying to get the swarm ; it had rained just previously 

 to their coming out, so that the leaves were still wet. 

 The swarm hung in the top of the tree, as, described, 

 till about 4 o'clock on Saturday, 26th, when it left, 

 and was followed and watched across a large lawn, 

 and then a wheat field, where it was lost sight of over 

 some trees. — T. E, L., Ci-eeting, Suffolk. 



Rare Birds. — I earnestly wish that the readers of 

 Science-Gossip would do all in their power to en- 

 courage the presence of rare birds when these vouch- 

 safe us a visit. What an opportunity was thrown 

 away when, as related by one of your correspondents, 

 a Bohemian waxwing, one of a pair, was killed last 

 January by a boy, with a catapult, a weapon whose 

 use ought to be prohibited altogether. If we could 

 teach the young that the true naturalist is not a mere 

 destructive, there might be a chance by-and-by of 

 some rare birds settling among us. — //. B. 



Wagtails. — Regarding the behaviour of the wag- 

 tail, mentioned by Mr. Snell, the explanation given by 

 G. H. K. of birds tapping at the window (Science- 

 Gossip, p. 142), is in my opinion an explanation of 

 the whole affair. I often observed wagtails disporting 

 themselves on the roof of my dwelling-house, especi- 

 ally about the windows, on the panes of which they 

 are often tapping, attracted by the numerous flies and 

 gnats to be seen lurking about the window-sashes. 

 The reason the wagtail declined the proffered hospi- 

 tality arose from the fact that the food offered (seeds) 

 is not a tempting bait for insectivorous birds. — 

 J. M. C. 



Birds and their Eggs.— There appears to be a 

 general belief that if only one or two eggs are taken 

 from a nest of three or four, the hen bird will lay 

 more ; but that if the egg is taken from a nest where 



only one has yet been laid, the birds will desert. 

 Now this in itself seems utterly absurd, for surely if 

 a bird can tell when one egg has been taken, it can 

 also tell when two eggs have been taken from a nest 

 of four. Now I believe that most small birds will 

 desert if an egg be taken or the nest in any way dis- 

 turbed, and I should much like to have the opinion 

 of your readers on the subject. For I think that the 

 decrease of our small birds is to some extent due to 

 egg collectors, who unintentionally do this harm. 

 Another reason for the decrease is, I think, the 

 wholesale destruction of every sort of egg that is 

 carried on in the country by small boys. In the nest- 

 ing time nearly every boy one meets in the country 

 has his cap full of different sorts of eggs which he 

 offers for sale. The " Wild Birds Preservation 

 Act " has undoubtedly done a vast amount of good, 

 but it would be a still better thing if the taking of 

 eggs as well as the taking of young birds was unlaw- 

 ful.— A'. K Z. 



Swallows' Nests. — In your issue of the 3rd inst., 

 I observed some interesting notes on the above, hence 

 my inclination to submit to 'you the following r 

 There is, and has been for years, a pair of swallows 

 nesting under the roof of one of the outhouses sur- 

 rounding a school in the district from where I am 

 writing. The nest is not more than eight feet from 

 the ground, and what is more, it is in the playground. 

 The nest is known to all the children, who watch the 

 old birds go in and out undauntedly on their parental 

 missions. A few years ago a swallow built its nest 

 and reared its young in one of the corners of an up- 

 stairs window ; the house was only one story high, 

 and the window was down all day and a sewing 

 machine working ; but the birds took no more notice 

 than if all was quiet. — Phiz, Manchester. 



The Position of the Heron when Incuba- 

 ting. — A well-known and scientific naturalist who- 

 remarked my note some time since in Science- 

 Gossip, wrote to say he believed the statement of 

 herons sitting on their nests with a leg at each side, 

 instead of under them, to be perfectly correct, adding 

 that as there was a heronry in his vicinity he would 

 visit it and make sure of the fact. I received the 



following note from him last week : "I went to 



on purpose to see the birds on their nests, and the 

 owner of the heronry and I can fully confirm your 

 statement, indeed I had no doubt about it before." 

 He adds, " have you ever noticed the way in which 

 herons drop on their nests, feet foremost, or perhaps 

 I should say hindmost, from a considerable height, 

 the wings supporting them like a parachute? " 

 Country folk have often noticed and mentioned the 

 curious position assumed by the heron when incu- 

 bating, but probably book naturalists will think the 

 testimony of two eye-witnesses (a scientific gentleman 

 and a "gunner") worth recording as to the fact. — 

 Frances jf. Batters!'}', Cromlyii, Rathoven, Wesl- 

 vieath. 



Water-Snails. — The admirable article in your 

 last issue on " Water-Snails ; a Study of Pond Life," 

 by the author of "Plant Life," contains what is to 

 me a strange and somewhat dogmatic assertion. It 

 is this, "There is no such phenomenon as spon- 

 taneous generation. No living cell can be produced 

 save by the division of an already existing cell." 

 From the context I, of course, gather that the writer 

 intends these propositions to be universal negatives, 

 and not applicable alone to the particular case of the 

 snail. At present I will defer remarks, but simply 

 content myself with seeking information by asking. 



