HARDWICKE'S SCIEN CE • GO S S IP. 



211 



Certainly there was no stream or current existing 

 which could otl'erany barriertothe cygnets' progress. ] 

 Dixon, in his woik on Onianiental and Domestic 

 Poultry, now I believe out of print, remarks, at page 

 29, " As hunger is satisfied, and weariness comes 

 on, the maternal swan will sink in the stream of a 

 river till her back becomes an easy landing-place, 

 and the nurslings are thus transfeired in a secure 

 and downy cradle to fiesii feeding-places." I suspect 

 a vast deal yet remains to Ije learnt regarding the 

 economy and instincts of swans. It has been stated 

 that they have an instinctive prescience before a 

 flood or sudden rise of water, to raise their nests to 

 save their eggs from being chilled by the water, by 

 raising weeds, grasses, &c., in the same way as 

 beavers build high dams as a prevention against 

 spring floods. — John Colebrooke. 



Moonshine.?— Can any of your readers explain 

 the following, which is held by the peasantry in this 

 part of the country ; viz. that the flax or lint must be 

 put to steep before or after the change of the moon ; 

 for if the moon shines upon the water in which 

 the flax is steeping, it will stop what is called the 

 watering process — a piece of iron thrown into the 

 water will set all right if this should occur. — Rev. 

 S. A. Brenan, Pomeroy, co. Tyrone. 



Blue-bottle Ely. — Is it an uncommon thing to 

 see a blue-bottle fly going from flower to flower 

 sipping the honey as a bee does ? I observed one 

 in my greenhouse regaling itself on the flowers of 

 a saxifrage.— /S*. A. B. 



Strange Pkoblem in Katukal Histouy. — 

 Mr. Alexander, of Termon Rectory, co. Tyrone, in 

 the month of July, vihile fishing for trout in an 

 adjoining lake, canght one \Ahich had a stone 

 embedded in its tongue. Bow could this have hap- 

 pened ? — S. A. B. 



Affection of the Partridge. — The affection 

 and solicitude of the female partridge for her eggs 

 and young is verg great, and instances are frequently 

 seen by the rural naturalist in his rambles. The 

 closeness with which she will sit w^iien about 

 hatching is remarkable. I once found a nest con- 

 taining seventeen eggs, on which the lemale was 

 sitting, and instead of flying rapidly away when I 

 approached, she allowed me to stroke her glossy 

 head and soft plumage, seeming to appreciate the 

 familiarity. Her confidence gained its reward, as 

 all of the eggs were duly hatched. A gentle- 

 man in this neighbourhood, when jumping across 

 a hedge, lighted with a foot on each side of a 

 partridge nest, on which the female was sitting. 

 The affectionate bird did not stir, and even 

 allowed the gentleman to stroke and fondle her. 

 But more admirable still is the address with which 

 both male and female will draw the spectator away 

 from the neighbourhood of their brood. Last July, 

 when walking along the highway, 1 disturbed two 

 partridges near some tall grass. With startled 

 cries they whirred away, and alighting a few yards 

 oft", in the middle of the road, went through a seines 

 of manoeuvres as if desperately wounded, — both of 

 them grovelling along on their bellies in the dust, 

 and seeming to tumble over and over in their 

 eagerness, stopping some distance off", they began 

 to utter curious plaintive cries. Being somewhat 

 in a hurry, I did not institute a search for t!ie 

 cause of this little drama — the young; but 1 have 

 seen a similar instance, in which case I captured 

 one of the plump liltle chicks, and held it for a 



time in my hands ; but the distress of the old bird 

 became so great, ihat I soon released it. In June, 

 ISGS, a pair of partridges had their nest in the 

 clover field opposite, the mowers thoughtfully 

 leaving a tuft of clover to shield the nest. It was 

 very amusing to see how careful the old birds were 

 to prevent attention being drawn to their almost 

 exposed nest. Both of them would go in search 

 of food, and then fly back into the field together, 

 alighting within a few yards of the nest, and having 

 anxiously scanned the neighbourhood for a time, 

 the female would slily approach in a crouching 

 attitude, and creep into the nest. — W. H. Warner., 

 Kingston, Abingdon. 



CuRipus Emergence of Ants. — Beneath the 

 floor of a cellar, which had been for some time 

 unused, a nest had been constructed by the common 

 garden ant {F. nigra), but, much to the alarm of the 

 insects, a considerable quantity of coals was placed 

 thereupon. Availing themselves of some few 

 interstices which were left here and there, they 

 managed to carry on their proceedings as usual, 

 and sent out foraging parties into the gardens. 

 This continued for several weeks, and one day, at 

 the beginning of August, the surface of the coal 

 was discovered to be swarming with male and 

 female ants. As their wings were in perfect order, 

 it would hardly seem possible that they could have 

 worked their way up through the dust and frag- 

 ments of coal without assistance from the other 

 ants. Probably the workers dragged the pupce in 

 such positions as would be most favourable for their 

 extrication in an uninjured condition. 



Leaf-cutter Bee. — Por five summers, a rose- 

 leaf-cutter bee has built her nest in a narrow- 

 spouted watering-pot in my garden, and 1 have just 

 heard of another nest, found in the touch-hole of a 

 gun belonging to our volunteer artillery. My books 

 on entomology only mention these bees' nests as 

 found in earth or cavities of walls ; therefore I 

 venture to record the above as rather unusual 

 localities. — J. C. 



Southern Birds. — Allow me to suggest in 

 answer to " H. G.'s" query on Southern Birds, that 

 "Molly Manks" are the Fulmar Petrel.— ^7(/e 

 Bewick's " Birds," and Kingsley's " Water Babies." 

 Are "Whale-birds" identical with them, "i— Julia 

 Colson. .,„ 



The Flight of Birds.— If Mr. T. Guthrie 

 consults the Duke of Argyll's " Reign of Law," 

 he will find in pages 159 to 161 an explanation 

 how hawks, at least certain species, are enabled to 

 remain suspended in the air without any forward 

 motion, and without any movement of the wing. 

 The .necessary conditions are a strong wind, large 

 and powerful and pointed wings, the body hung at 

 an angle to the horizon, and the head turned 

 towards the wind. With a strong wind no flapping 

 is required, the force of the wind counteracting the 

 force of gravity. In a calm, some muscular force 

 must be resorted to. Mr. Guthrie will find the 

 chapter on the flight of birds, and indeed the whole 

 volume, most instructive and interesting. — Fred. B. 

 Lang. 



A Strange Incident.— Can any of your readers 

 throw any light on the following strange incident ? 

 A cow, belonging to a person in the co. Armagh, 

 which was bought in a fair, and supposed to be in 

 calf at the time, and not giving milk when bought, 



