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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



reason, I think, is that to a certain extent it is a 

 prisoner, and keeps running up and down the glass, 

 being so intent upon gaining its freedom, that it dis- 

 regards the flies. — J. B., Alton. 



Wasps and Flies. — I have often seen wasps 

 pounce upon the common house flies, especially on a 

 hot day, and have v?atched them as if in the act of 

 mastication. I have also seen hornets pounce upon 

 and kill our common brown honey bee, but whether 

 their bodies are carried off to the nests, or they are 

 only killed for the sake of their honey, I cannot say; 

 they certainly take only the bees, and do not touch 

 the humble bees or wasp flies ; therefore every bee- 

 keeper should kill all the hornets he possibly can. — 

 /\.^. T, Andrr^L'S. 



British Bees. — I think your numerous micro- 

 scopical readers would find it worth while, in some 

 of their leisure hours, to bestow a little of their 

 attention on the bees of this country, of which I 

 believe there are about 250 species, the hive- 

 bee of course claiming first attention ; and anything 

 which they may be able to bring to light concerning 

 it would be welcomed in the beekeeping world. 

 Honey would also, I think, repay attention and 

 investigation into the changes it passes through. — A 

 Lover of Bees. 



The Prospect of a sharp Winter for 1S82. — 

 There is every prospect of a sharp winter this year, if 

 we believe the following signs. Fieldfares have 

 appeared about here very early this year, being seen 

 in abundance at the commencement of Sept. This 

 is a sure sign of frost and snow, as it is supposed 

 that it is commencing early at their summer homes, 

 and so driving them further south. Is there anything 

 in this tale ? Holly berries and hips-and-haws are 

 abundant : this is a foreboding of cold weather. — 

 W. P. Ellis, Enfield Chase. 



A TAME Hawk. — At the present time a patient of 

 mine possesses a hawk which is perfectly tame and 

 harmless, he allows any one to handle him with 

 impunity, and strange to relate, if one^places him on 

 his back there he will remain till he is put on his 

 legs again. Stranger to say, he lives most harmoni- 

 ously with a green linnet which was originally put 

 in his cage for a meal ; when first incarcerated with 

 his apparent enemy, he slunk into the furthest corner, 

 no doubt expecting instant death, but perceiving that 

 no danger was to be apprehended he approached the 

 woodland tyrant, and very speedily both were on 

 extremely friendly terms, and ever since if any 

 one goes near the cage, the hawk will open one 

 of his wings to shield his diminutive companion in 

 captivity. At night-time the linnet invariably goes to 

 sleep with his head snugly ensconced under the same 

 protecting canopy. 1 myself have witnessed the 

 above several times, and I think it should be noted 

 as an interesting and unique ornithological fact, 

 proving that the hawk ca?i be domesticated ; for I 

 believe it is generally regarded as impossible that 

 such a voracious bird could exist even for a short 

 period under restraint. What makes it still more 

 interesting is, that two birds of such opposite natures 

 should live in such perfect amity. At first he was a 

 great enemy to the cats, for if they came too near 

 he would at once open his beak, expand his wings, 

 and rush at them most furiously, uttering at the 

 same time a low sibilant hiss. — E. Marlett Boddy, 

 F.E.C.S. 



" Recent CAPTUREs"(SciENCE-Gossip, p. 261).— 

 Before Mr. A. R. Graham writes about " wholesale ex- 



termination of our rare visitors," I think he should 

 learn a little more of entomology ; perhaps he would 

 then discover that rare bees, like diamonds, are not 

 confined to one particular spot only. Both are always 

 to be found by any one understanding such things, and 

 who knows where and how to look for them ; but if left 

 to those gentle "lovers of Nature," I fear very little 

 would be known of their history. A true entomo- 

 logist would never impound every specimen he could 

 see, much less do anything to exterminate such a 

 rarity as Alacropis labiata, and of which Mr. F. Enock 

 left plenty of males and females to "be fruitful and 

 multiply." — Ferndale, IVoking Station. 



The dancing of Gnats. — May I ask the opinion 

 of your readers as to their views on that which seems 

 to me a curious phenomenon, namely the periodical 

 meeting of gnats, midges, and a fe\r other species at 

 certain spots for the purpose of holding their 

 eccentric games. We know the object of these 

 gatherings ; but how is it that the same localities are 

 always chosen not only night after night, but year 

 after year, by these tiny revellers, and what sort of 

 invitation is it that draws them so ? For example, on 

 a hot evening I have seen a column of gnats hanging 

 over a tree in a forest so vast that they looked like 

 the ascending smoke of a camp-fire, and so numerous 

 that the hum of their myriad tiny wings could be 

 heard at thirty yards like the distant sound of the sea. 

 Night after night they came there when the sun set, 

 and the same phenomenon can be seen almost any- 

 where. I do not believe that either food, shelter or 

 breeding grounds have anything to do with the habit, 

 which in my opinion is one of simple reason. Is this 

 too much for your readers to concede to this tiny 

 iolkl—E.L.A. 



White Varieties. — The " Westbury House 

 School Ephemeris " contains the following list of 

 white varieties of various flowers found at Worthing 

 during June : — I. Trifolium incarnatiim album, found 

 on the way to Cissbury, van ; 2. jMyosotis arvensis alba, 

 same locality, but only a single plant ; 3. Polygala 

 vulgaris alba, common at Cissbury ; 4. Lychnis Jios- 

 cuculi alba, Lancing Marches, p. ; 5. Orchis rnaculata 

 alba, Lancing Marches ; 6. Cardamine pratensis alba. 

 Lancing Marches. The following were found last 

 year : — 7. Campanula rotundifolia. Downs, r. ; 8. 

 Erica tetralix alba. Downs, r. ; 9. Scabiosa arvejisis 

 alba. Downs, r. ; 10. S. succisa alba. Downs, c. ; II. 

 S. cohmibaria alba. Downs, c. ; 12. Viola cdorata 

 alba, c. ; 13. Thymus serpyllum alhwi. Downs, r. ; 

 14. Scilla nutatts alba. Goring, p. 



Three-toed Sloth. — Would some reader supply 

 me, through the medium of your valuable journal, 

 with a list of books or papers referring to the three- 

 toed sloth I—Alex. Macindoc. 



Canada Goose. — On November 6 my father shot 

 a large goose in a ploughed field at Shepherdswell, 

 between Dover and Canterbury ; it allowed us to 

 approach within forty or fifty yards before it rose. It 

 weighed 9J lbs., and measured five feet across the 

 wings and three feet from bill to tail. I found it 

 corresponded to the coloured plate and following 

 description of the Canada Goose :— "This species is 

 shaped neariy hke the common tame goose, but is 

 somewhat longer ; the bill is of a black or deep 

 lead colour ; the eyes are dark ; the head and neck 

 are black, except a white mark on the under-side of 

 the former, which becomes narrower on the sides, 

 and terminates in points about the place of the ears ; 

 the back, wings and part of the breast and belly, are 

 of a dark-brown hue, the edges of the feathers in- 



