118 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



colony of starlings which dwelt on the eaves of a 

 neighbouring house. During the summer time, when 

 the cherries were ripe, he used to lay some on his 

 window-sill, and, being an invalid, it used to pass 

 many a weary hour pleasantly away, watching his 

 pet starlings. During the two years of his confine- 

 ment, those birds became quite tame and sociable, 

 really looking out for their dessert and their hand- 

 ful of coni, which was daily placed for them. One 

 day a friend sent him some starlings for a dumpling, 

 when he remarked he would ns soon think of turning 

 cannibal as eating any of those poor starlings, for 

 they had beguiled many a sad and painful hour, and 

 their voices were heard first in the morning, and 

 their cheerful chatter was his lullaby at eve. I do 

 not fancy I could relish them myself, altliough I be- 

 lieve they are very savoury. — Barbara Wallace Fyfe. 



The Stabling.— In reply to " H. 0. S.," the 

 Starling is resident in England throughout tlie 

 year, and is probably also a partial migrant. In 

 mild winters, the old birds sometimes continue to 

 frequent the trees or buildings where they nest. 

 Their food consists almost entirely of earthworms, 

 snails, insects and their larva?, with an occasional 

 seed or berry ; but these form the exception. In 

 autumn they congregate in immense flocks, which 

 repair night after night to the same roostiug- 

 place. These flocks begin to assemble as soon as 

 the first broods leave their nests, and go on in- 

 creasing with successive broods till they are, later 

 in the season, joined by old birds also. Early in 

 the morning they disperse to their feeding-grounds, 

 again to return with the setting sun to their 

 chosen resting-place. — T. Southwell. 



Collection Catalogues.— I observe, among 

 the advertisements in Science-Gossip, an an- 

 nouncement of the publication of a printed form of 

 catalogue, prepared by Mr. Harting. It is no 

 doubt a useful plan, but it does not fully explain 

 itself. Will some one who has experience in 

 cataloguing explain how he would set about to 

 make a catalogue of a collection of say 2,000 

 botanical specimens, supposing that the specimens 

 have already the necessary particulars attached to 

 each, but not collected in a book, and that the 

 collection is still rapidly increasing in all depart- 

 ments, phanerogamic and cryptogamic ? It is easy 

 enough to write out a catalogue of a completed 

 collection, either alphabetically or in the order of 

 classification ; the difliculty lies in dealing with the 

 additions, so as to avoid future confusion. Is there 

 any better plan than the day-book and ledger ; that 

 is, to enter every addition consecutively in one 

 book, with a consecutive number to each, and 

 afterwards post them into a fully classified cata- 

 logue ? This plan is cumbersome and slow. — F. T. 

 Mott. 



Does Gas-light kill Plants?— I should be 

 glad if some of your able correspondents would 

 inform nic whether gas, or the gas-light, kills 

 plants? It is commonly supposed it does, but I 

 should think wrongly, as the gas given ott' must 

 form nourishment rather than otherwise. — F. T. 



Mites.— A neighbour last summer requested the 

 writer to inspect his daughter's house, as it was, 

 especially the drawing-room, which had been lately 

 newly furnished, infested with a very minute 

 species of mite. So extreme was the nuisance, 

 that the maker of the furniture had been sent for 

 from a town a long way off to examine it, and even 



an action seemed not unlikely. Though the little 

 pest was scarcely visible to the naked eye, the 

 edges of the moreen curtains, the chair-bottoms, 

 the iusides of the piano and chiffonier, as well as 

 other parts of the house and furniture, were quite 

 white with them. I recommended the best means 

 I could think of to destroy them, — ventilation, 

 brushing, fumigation with sulphur, the use of 

 carbolic acid, &c. The only other way, besides 

 through the medium of the furniture, in which 

 they were suspected to have been imported, was in 

 a box of C^s. The acarus was extremely hairy, 

 pointed in front, and gibbous beiiiud ; but I send 

 jnouuted specimens, which may be given to any- 

 body who takes an interest in the mites. — B. G. 



Lesser Pettychap, ok, CiiirF-ciiAFF {Sylvia 

 Mppolais). — The early appearance of this lively little 

 warbler is recorded on p. 93, by Mr. Westropp, who 

 noticed it on March 9th. Six days later it was 

 chirping in a shrubbery close to this house. Now, 

 are there not good grounds for believing that this 

 little bird does not migrate, since it has shown itself 

 able to bear the severe frosts and heavy snows which 

 prevailed since its arrival ? It stays later than the 

 otiier small emigrants, for I heard it in the woods last 

 year so late as the second week in October. I am 

 no believer in the hybernation of birds, but I have 

 long had an idea that this species does not leave this 

 country at all, but retires in winter to sheltered 

 spots in woods, where it picks up a subsistence from 

 the trunks and branches of trees, like the tits 

 and other small birds. The disuse of its song, and 

 its small size, would render it very unlikely to be 

 noticed by ordinary observers. While on the early 

 appearance of birds of passage, I may state that the 

 Blackcap {Cnrruca atricapilld) has been in full song 

 here since the 30th of March, and that I noticed 

 three sand-martins {Hirundo njoana) about their old 

 haunts the following day. — W. H. Warner. 



Paste Eels.— With some others I have often 

 been troubled to procure these creatures, though 

 carefully following the directions of the books. At 

 others, I have found them abundantly in paste 

 which has been put away and not touched. I have 

 often seen it stated that some peculiar ears of corn, 

 when soaked a short time, will abound with eels in 

 the grains ; and if so, may not the difficulty some 

 persons find in getting them, proceed from the flour 

 not having any of these particular corns ground up 

 with it? As to their "spontaneous generation," I 

 believe they arc generated one from another, as is 

 evident in the eggs and young ones. — E. T. S. 



Paste Eels.— I have tried "F. K.'s"plan for 

 obtaining A. glutinis several times, and I have not 

 succeeded once. The following is a better (at any 

 rate cleaner) way of preserving tiiem when they ap- 

 ])ear than "E. K.'s." I copy it from Dr. Jabez Hogg's 

 work on the microscope. He says: "The best 

 means of securing a supply for any occasion, consists 

 in allowing any portion of a mass of paste in which 

 they show themselves, to dry up, and then lay it by 

 for stock ; if at any time a portion of this is intro- 

 duced into a little fresh-made paste, and the whole 

 kept warm and moist for a \&\i days, it will be 

 found to swarm with these curious little worms." — 

 W, Sargant, Junior. 



Paste Eels. — My little random shot has induced 

 "P. K." to shelter himself behind Mr. Pritchard, and 

 thus brougiit me face to face with a giant ; but the 

 little wrigglers in question,haviug beenmyoccasiona. 



