58 



HARDWICKE'S S CIEN C E-GO SSIP. 



is an extraordinarily clever musician, imitating at 

 will the swallow, sparrow, thrush, lark, &c., and so> 

 no doubt, he frequently mimics his friend the Heed 

 Sparrow. I shall quote from the work of our great 

 Irish naturalist, Thompson. Speaking of Emberiza 

 schceniclus, he says ; " In many parts of Ireland the 

 Reed Bunting has the undue reputation of being a 

 sweet songster of the night, and is believed to be 

 the veritable ' Irish nightingale,' a name bestowed 

 on the mysterious bird, be that what it may, which 

 sings through the summer night. In strict justice, 

 the Sedge Warbler may lay claim to the flattering 

 appellation. Montague, with his usual acuteness, 

 long since accounted for this error in the following 

 words: 'It is somewhat extraordinary that the 

 manners and habits of so common a bird should 

 remain so long in obscurity ; even modern authors 

 tell us it is a song-bird, and sings after sunset. . . . 

 There can be no doubt, however, that the song of 

 the Sedge Warbler has been taken for that of this 

 bird; for, as they both frequent the same places in 

 the breeding season, that elegant little warbler is 

 pouring forth its varied notes concealed in the 

 thickest part of a bush, while this is conspicuously 

 perched above, whose tune is not deserving the 

 name of a song, consisting only of two notes, the 

 first repeated three or four times, the last'single and 

 more sharp.' Reed Sparrow and Blackcap are the 

 names commonly bestowed on this bird in the 

 north of Ireland." 



Such is the language of two great British orni- 

 thologists — Montague and Thompson, — who clear 

 up the whole matter better than any words of mine. 

 " L.," in the beginning of his letter, states, " A stone 

 thrown into the water will at once arouse him, and 

 his note, answered by a hundred others, fills the 

 night with music." Thompson, speaking of the 

 Sedge Warbler, says: "What may perhaps be 

 termed its boldness is evinced by any object flung 

 into its haunt prompting the bird to sing, as if in 

 defiance of the interruption, or, as a well-known 

 author might imagine, to keep its courage up." 

 Your readers may see how nearly the two accounts 

 correspond. 



Passing over the dash of green which "L." would 

 affix to the Reed Sparrow's wing, I must now con- 

 clude, hoping that " Leprahaun " is convinced that 

 the Irish nightingale has not a' black head, but 

 is none other than the Sedge Warbler (Sylvia sali- 

 caria). R. M. Bareington. 



Fassaroe, Bray, Co. Wicklow. 



" It is Love that secures the universal equality 

 between beings and species. Let there be no more 

 pride. The same law prevails from the greatest to 

 the least — in the star as in the flower. There are 

 no grades of high or low either in heaven or in love 

 — which, moreover, is heaven itself."-—" The Moun- 

 tain^' by Michelet. 



THE GOAT-MOTH. 



{Cossus ligniperda.) 



ivy ANY observing persons in their rambles may 

 -^-^ have noticed that the trunks of various trees 

 are studded in divers parts with numerous holes of 

 considerable size, but at the same time may be at 

 a loss to know he cause thereof. These are the 

 work of the Cossus, or " Goat-moth," as it is popu- 

 larly termed, which, in its larval state, feeds within 

 the solid trunks of trees, rendering the wood value- 

 less, except for fuel. Perhaps these holes do not 

 so easily attract one's notice when a tree is covered 

 with its bark as when it has been deprived of it ; 

 for then may the work of the Cossus be seen to per- 

 fection. I once saw an alder-tree apparently but 

 little infested by Cossi when covered, but upon 

 stripping it of a portion of its bark, I found it to 

 be literally honeycombed by the work of these 

 destructive creatures. Its presence is made known 

 not only by the holes it drills in the trunk of the 

 tree, but also by its sawdust-like ejeda lying at 

 the foot of it, and more especially by an uncom- 

 monly strong and disagreeable odour that pervades 

 its locality, and which can only be compared to 

 that of a he-goat. It is from this peculiar scent 

 that the creature obtains its name of Goat-moth. 



The larva of this beautiful moth has been the 

 sole cause of destruction to many a noble tree, and 

 it is, perhaps, one of the worst enemies the gar- 

 dener has to contend with ; for a tree once becom- 

 ing infested with it is doomed to destruction unless 

 the pest be speedily removed. In six or seven years 

 the Cossi will have completed their work, even if 

 the tree is of considerable magnitude. Nor can this 

 be wondered at when it is known that the Cossus 

 is one of our largest indigenous moths, measuring 

 on an average from three and a half to four inches 

 in expanse of wing, and that the larva spends three 

 years feeding. Bad as its ravages are, they would 

 be far greater were it not kept in check by its 

 enemies, entomologists, ichneumons, and the wood- 

 pecker. The last-mentioned cuts large holes in the 

 tree with its powerful beak in order to extract the 

 dainty morsel. 



The Cossus seems more partial to the willow than 

 to any other tree, but it is also to be found in the 

 alder, elm, oak, lilac, and ash. Pliny mentions it as 

 feeding upon oak, pear, apple, and fig trees. I 

 have not found it in the trunks of apple-trees in 

 this locality ; but our apples, as well as elms, lilacs, 

 &c., are very much infested with another wood- 

 boring larva of a smaller moth, called the Leopard 

 {Z. (esciili). Eortunatelj^, this creature does not do 

 so much harm as the Cossus ; for, spending but a 

 short period within the tree, its ravages are com- 

 paratively small. 



The Cossus of this country was well known to the 



