HAflDVVICKE'S SCI E N C E-GO S S 1 P. 



189 



Saffron to Birds. — With reference to the 

 question of " J. R,. S. C," it may be asserted that 

 saffron is certainly an aromatic, and is also slij^htly 

 stimulant. The administration of saffron to birds 

 during moulting is founded on a theory that at 

 this period the bird should be in a kind of fever, such 

 increased state of excitement and heat being neces- 

 sary for the proper performance of the function of 

 moulting. From some cause, as that the bird is 

 debilitated, or the weather is coolsr than usual, 

 there is not a state of vigour or sufficiently increased 

 excitement to carry the bird safely through the 

 process. A " chill " is given, the falling-off of the 

 feathers is cliecked, a retrocession takes place, some 

 internal organ is attacked, and the bird sinks either 

 from exhaustion or from the new induced disease. 

 Such is the theory. But " fanciers " differ in the 

 diagnosis and treatment of the diseases of birds as 

 much as doctors do concerning those appertaining 

 to man. Some give in this case saffron as a stimu- 

 lant,— of very small power, as "J. R, S. C." has 

 pointed out, when administered in the usual manner. 

 Others place a nail in the drinking-water, so that it 

 may rust, believing that if the bird swallows the 

 minute quantity of protoxide of iron which may be 

 diffused throughout the water, a tonicity of system 

 may be acquired sufficient to carry it through the 

 change, which, after all, is but a natural process, 

 becoming unhealthy only under certain conditions. 

 — Henry J. Bacon. 



Where are the Swallows ?— I have watched 

 for them in their old haunts over Hampstead 

 Heath, near the ornamental water in the parks, 

 &c. ; but even near Bishop's Wood, where they 

 formerly congregated in numbers, I have seen 

 neither swallow, martin, nor swift this year. Are 

 they scarce in other parts of England, or have they 

 simply forsaken the north-western outskirts of the 

 metropolis ? — TL. M. F. 



Wn.^.LEs IN Garrans Bay, Cornwall. — I 

 copy the following from the IFest Briton of June 

 theSOth : — "pu the 12th instant the appearance of a 

 curious sail in the bay attracted the attention of 

 fishermen, and one of them, on getting nearer to it, 

 found it to be the dorsal fin of a whale; so he 

 deemed it prudent to give it a wide berth. About 

 three months since a young fisherman, when in the 

 bay, saw passin,^ by him a whale with a young calf 

 ou either side of her ; but she was very pacific, and 

 apparently sought only her own and infant's se- 

 curity. This is the first appearance of whales here 

 for the last ten or twelve years. Those that were 

 previously accustomed to frequent for some years 

 the Cornish coast,_were found dead about ten years 

 since : one was found in Garrans Bay, and the 

 other was towed into Ealmouth harbour." — //. 

 Btidge. 



Scarcity op Butterflies in 1872.— Being in 

 Kent through the first half of June, I was rather 

 surprised to find how very scarce butterflies were, 

 and one greatly missed these ornaments of the 

 landscape. Even on bright days there were few 

 about, except Whites, and the disappearance or re- 

 tardation of the rest must, 1 presume, have been 

 caused by the cold nights (and days also, not unfre- 

 quently), and the heavy rainfall in part of May and 

 June. The Small Tortoiseshell, frequently abundant 

 in June, only exhibited itself now and then; of 

 Meadow Browns and Walls there were only solitary 

 specimens here and there; while nearlv all the 



hybernated Brimstones were extinguished ; aud in- 

 stead of common Blues appearing by the dozen, as 

 is often the case, I believe I only saw three or four. 

 The Large Skipper was not about, though the small 

 species (Lineci) began to come out the second week. 

 A few battered Fritillaries were about in the woods, 

 remnants of the brood of Eaphrosyne ; but the 

 most abundant species (though local) M'as the Small 

 Heath.—/. R. S. C. 



Montagu's Harrier.— The notice of this bird 

 in last month's Magazine reminds me of some facts 

 connected with one which was shot near Guildford 

 last spring. For three or four years the keeper had 

 said that a large grey bird came over the farm 

 about the same time every year; he did not know 

 what it was, and the men called it the Grey Kite. 

 In 1872 I saw it when out with my gun one day : it 

 was flying low by the hedge, and I was unable to 

 get near enough to see what it was ; the following 

 year it appeared again, this time coming within 

 range of the keeper, who killed it : when it turned 

 out to be a Montagu's Harrier in the grey plumage 

 of the adult. It seemed always to be flying in a 

 southern direction. Can any of your reaciers give 

 any explanation of this circumstance? Is it that 

 they are migratory birds, and would be going south 

 at that time of year ? — /. L. C. 



Bees. — Having lost all my bees this spring, I 

 placed, a few days ago, two hives half full of empty 

 comb to dry, inverting one and settin"' the other 

 upon it, so that they were placed mouth to mouth, 

 the upper one projecting over the other a little in 

 front. On July 5th I was surprised to see a score 

 or two of bees flying about the opening, but sup- 

 posed them to be seeking some remains of honey 

 which might be left. About half an hour later I 

 went up the garden, and found that a large swarm 

 of bees had settled on the outside of the hive, and 

 were rapidly ascending into the upper one; and. I 

 now have them on my stand. None of my imme- 

 diate neighbours keep bees, as I believe, therefore 

 these must have travelled some little distance ; and 

 the bees I first saw must have beeu pioneers seek- 

 ing a suitable home. I£ they came with the wind, 

 they must have topped a hedge eight feet high, at 

 the foot of which the hives were placed, and at 

 only a few feet distance in the other direction were 

 some tall peas ; so that they must have flown at 

 some height and dropped suddenly down to the 

 \i\.\Q.— Arthur R. Graliara. 



The Hawfinch. — Perhaps one or two additional 

 facts respecting the occurrence of this bird may 

 still be interesting, although the evidence adduced 

 in several recent numbers of Science-Gossip seems 

 to show that it is not so rare as was by some corre- 

 spondents supposed. About the beginning of May 

 a deserted nest of the Hawfinch, containing six 

 eggs, was brought to me from a neighbouring 

 orchard. The situation, which I afterwards saw, 

 was a very conspicuous one, — on a horizontal branch 

 of an apple-tree, about twelve feet from the ground. 

 The old man who took the nest, and who is well 

 acquainted with the nidificatiou of the neighbour- 

 hood, had never met with one of the kind before ; 

 but the bird was not strange to him, and he had 

 seen several of them during this spring. I have 

 since learned that the nest has been found on more 

 than one occasion in the garden of a gentleman of 

 this place, and that on one at least of these occa- 

 sions it was, like the one I have, conspicuously 



