RARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



d) 



spncimens myself, and have 'washed tlicm all, and 

 fiud no inconvenience from the ravages of insects. 

 I also think with Mr. Mott that a close box is a 

 great help to preserve them.— T. B. Bloic, WeUvyn, 

 Herts. 



Alt; AD A abbohea.— In reply fo ]\Tr. TTarner, I 

 beg to say he is quite right in correcting the 

 scientific name given by me to the Tree Pipit. 

 The mistake occurred partly throngh carelessness 

 and partly from my dislike to the term Anthts 

 bein? used to designate any of the Lark tribe ; for, 

 why have a word so indefinite as to be applicable 

 to 'any small bird, when we have such a capital 

 generic appellative as Alauda ? In answer to \lx. 

 Kingsley, I would state that my present observa- 

 tion enables me to distinguish four kinds of larks 

 in this neighbourhood— Skylark, Wood-lark, Tit- 

 lark, and Tree Pipit. The first three reside with 

 us all the year round, the last is a bird of passage ; 

 and, as I said in my note, " the song and flight are 

 so peculiar, that it will be impossible to mistake it 

 for any other." Doubtless there are other varieties 

 of larks in our beautiful fields and woods ; bnt, as 

 I never shoot for purposes of verification, and have 

 acquired my experience of the songs of birds from 

 living specimens kept in ' confinement, or the in- 

 struction of friends during happy rambles over hill 

 and dale, I do feel certain of knowledge gained in 

 such a practical manner ; and I do not hesitate to 

 assure Mr. Kingsley he will no longer find any 

 diflacnlty in distinguishing the Tree Pipit from the 

 Wood-lark, if, next May and June, he lie about on 

 fine sunny days in the hay fields, and watch tjie 

 skv-rocket ascent and fluttering descent of this de- 

 lightful bird. I thank Mr. Kingsley for his kind 

 courtesy in giving me credit for an observation 

 which i am sorry to say I have never made, that 

 the Alauda arborea (or Tree-lark, as he calls it) 

 sings at night. I most fervently hope that such is 

 the case in Hampshire, where he lives, for 1 am 

 not, quite sure whether I do not prefer Wood-krk 

 to Skylark music ; and, in wishing him the enjoy- 

 ment of its mellow strains by night as well as by 

 day, I can fancy no sweeter lullaby.— /o^e;?/? Drew. 



The Lesseu Pettychap. — Mr. Westropp sends 

 us the notice of the very enrly appearance (the 9th 

 March) of the Lesser Pettychap {Sijlvia Jdppolais), 

 which may • interest some of our ornithological 

 readers. 



Sta-KLTiigs. — Do starlings usually remain with us 

 during the whole winter? as those which have lived 

 on my house for the last three or four years have 

 never left us at all this winter, but have been seen 

 and heard on the Vicarage roof and cliimneys every 

 fine, or even fair dav. What does their winter food 

 consist of ?— fi". 0. 'S., Gateshead. 



Wood-Pigeons. —What is the general food of 

 wood-pigeons, especially in the winter? They 

 are accused of eating corn. &c. ; but we had some 

 this week (purchased on Feb. 16, from Scotland) ; 

 the crops of three were quite full of turnip-tops, 

 one of turnip-tops and clover, and one of clover 

 only; and the birds in very good condition. Is 

 such food usual ?— iT. 0. S., Gateshead. 



The "JjVTEk" (p. 69). — It is unfortunate for 

 Mr. Joynson's theory that the bulk of his examples 

 are Saxon : ex. gr., Ormskirk, Runcorn, Wallasea. 

 Since it is to the Saxon we must look for the true 

 derivation of "Lither," Litherlaud I understand 



to mean the district since re-christened as "Water- 

 loo." It is in Sefton or Sephton parish {ton, A.-S.), 

 near Seaforth (true A.-S.), Crosby [by is Scandina- 

 vian), Aintrec, Netherton, and Thornton, both pure 

 Saxon. Premising that the word " pool" was com- 

 mon to both Saxon and \Velsh, I may just remark 

 on tlie inconsistency of joining Gtelic and Welsh to 

 produce a compound : it may not be impossible, but 

 it is unusual. I do not find " pool " in Geelic, while 

 the Welsh "LI" would produce a different sound 

 from the "L " in Litherpool. In Anglo-Saxon we 

 have several forms of the root Lide ; bnt our best 

 illustrations may be drawn from the lowland Scot- 

 tish. Jamieson quotes: Lithe, adj., "calm, 

 sheltered." Lytbe, verb and noun, and Lither, adj., 

 as "lazy, sleepy;" Lithi3 is comfortable. Much 

 stress. has been laid on the word lither as " landing- 

 place ; " but it is far preferable to take it as indi- 

 cating the sheltered pool at the Mersey side. Mersey 

 is pure Saxon. — A. Hall. 



White Varieties (p. 45). — White varieties of 

 many plants may be only occasionally seen, 

 appearing under certain conditions, and lasting only 

 so long as these conditions prevail, while in other 

 cases these varieties seem to be permanent ; but I 

 believe that all varieties, whether natural or brought 

 about by artificial means, tend to return to their 

 normal state. Last autumn but one, while stay- 

 ing at Ardlethen, Aberdeenshire, I noticed some 

 plants of the Harebell Campanula (C. rotmidifolia) 

 with some flowers perfectly white, while others, on 

 the same plants, had a tinge of blue ; but last 

 autumn, on the same spot, not a white flower was 

 to be seen — all were blue. The plants were growing 

 at the edge of a narrow band of Silurian limestone, 

 the adjoining rocks being gneiss and granite. — John 

 Hopkinson. 



Geological Guide to Sicily (p. 70).-;-Should 

 " a Subscriber " not meet with a suitable guide-book 

 to Etna, he may perhaps find the required informa- 

 tion in the following works : — Eerrara, " Descriz- 

 ione dell' Etna ; " Palermo, 1818 ; Hoffmann, 

 "Geognost. Beobachtungen," Berlin, 1839; Lyell, 

 "Principles of Geology ; " Scrope, " On Volcanoes." 

 The following papers in the Quarterly Journal of 

 the Geological Society may also be consulted : — 

 Abich,"On some points in the History and Formation 

 of Etna," vol. xv. p. 117; Gemellaro, "On the 

 Gradual Elevation of the Coast of Sicily," vol. xiv. 

 p. 501, and " On the Volcanic Cones of Palermo and 

 Motta, Etna," vol. xviii. p. I^.—Johi Hopkinson. 



Gold-fish. — Having a large number of gold-fish, 

 I gave some of them to a friend. Soon after he had 

 received them, he told me he had seen some little 

 ones in the globe with the others, but that the 

 large ones ate them as soon as they appeared. A 

 few days after he saw the above, he saw some 

 spawn in the globe, and some m.ore of the small 

 ones appeared: these he has taken out. I shall 

 feel obliged if you, or any of your readers, can tell 

 me if this is a common occurrence, and if there is 

 any way of rearing these small fish. — Tom V. Bevey, 

 Wolsingham. 



Abnormal Cerastitjm (pp. 259, 279, 1571).— 1 

 was, in all probability, wrong in referring this 

 curious specimen to Arenaria, though I did not 

 speak very positively about it. I and others have 

 again examined specimens, and the evidence seems 

 to be in favour of its being a Cerastium.— Robert 

 Holla nd. 



