HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



239 



that I went with a lantern to see the cause, and 

 found a hedgehog. To reh-ase tJie poor beast I took 

 the dogs away, and put the hedgehog over the fence 

 into a meadow, where, I suppose, it came from, and 

 got tlirough the fence into my garden, where the 

 hen was sitting, and as we had afterwards taken 

 her indoors every night, yet it was found by the 

 dogs within three yards of where the mischief 

 was done. Can any of your readers inform me if 

 this same aniiual was lilcely to have been the trans- 

 gressor ? Tt is curious, about three years ago I 

 brought a hedgehog and set it loose in the garden, 

 thinking lie would destroy the slugs, &c., and we 

 never saw him after. — W. H. JSPLachlan. 



Swallows.— In reply to the inquiry of "E.M.P.," 

 regarding the departure of swallows, it must be 

 borne in mind that the representatives of this tribe 

 are very "sensitive," if I may use the word; per- 

 haps more so than any others. Should they, per- 

 chance, have suffered any injury from tlie collecting 

 ornithologist, or had their nests robbed of the eggs 

 by the egg-fancier, they will not only desert the spot 

 itself, but their favourite haunts for miles around 

 will become desolate. On the borders of Lanca- 

 shire and Cheshire they are very numerous ; in fact, 

 they are more numerous this year than I have ever 

 known them to be before. This may, indeed, 

 account, to a certain degree, for their scarcity in 

 the south-eastern part of the country. — P. S. War- 

 rington. 



"Where abe the Swallows?" — The query 

 put by " E. M. P." had occurred to myself before 

 reading his remarks in SciENCE-Gossipfor August. 

 This year I have seen very few swallows and 

 martins (and I may add, in passing, butterflies and 

 moths) during the usual months in which they 

 appear. One friend has not noticed any difference 

 in his own neighbourhood, not far from this (North 

 Stalf or d shire). But others, with myself, have 

 fancied that these annual visitants have been fewer 

 than usual this year. Have other observers noticed 

 this ? "A. H.," in this month's number (September), 

 observes that they have been seen in considerable 

 numbers south of the Thames, and in localities 

 where they have not before been noticed. Is this 

 an isolated case ? If not, will it answer and explain 

 our inquiry ? — J. S. B. 



Do MANY Swallows perish in their ]\Iigra- 

 TiONs ?— This inquiry is suggested by a remark in 

 one of Professor Kingsley's sermons, to the follow- 

 ing effect: — Thousands. died in their passage south. 

 Thousands more died in their passage back again 

 this spring, by hunger and by storm." Is it an 

 ascertained fact that so many birds of passage 

 perish in their migrations ?— /. S. B. 



Coluber Atjstriacus. — Will some reader kindly 

 tell me what the Coluber Austriacus, mentioned in 

 the last two numbers of Science Gossip, is ? I 

 have Bell's British Reptiles, and find no account of 

 it, unless it be the snake mentioned as having been 

 taken near Dumfries, by Mr. J. W. Simmons, sup- 

 posed to be unique, and here called Coluber Bum- 

 frisiensis. — W. G. 



Preserving Eungi.— In the August number of 

 Science-Gossip, _" S. T. T." gives a receipt for pre- 

 serving fungi, in which a mixture containing 

 sulphuric acid is to be filtered through chalk or 

 lime. I hope no one has tried the experiment, as 

 the boiling over and mess would be very annoying 

 if chalk were selected. If lime be used, the sul- 



phuric acid would 'simply be removed from the mix- 

 ture by converting the lime into a sulphate (gypsum). 

 — Jr. G. 



The Camberwell Beauty.— It may possibly be 

 worth putting on record that on Monday last, Sept. 

 2nd, my sons captured a specimen of the Camberwell 

 Beauty {Vanessa Antiopa), while fishing in the park 

 of my friend. Lady Shelley, at Maresfield, in Sussex. 

 I know that this species has been chronicled as a 

 visitor at Lewes and Worthing, in this county ; but, 

 as far as 1 can gather, from the works to which I 

 have access, this is its first appearance upon our 

 weald clay.— /T. N., Forest Lodge, Maresfield. 



The Smooth Snake {Coluber Austriacus).— lllw 

 first example of this snake is said to have been taken 

 near Dumfries, and hence named Coluber Dumfri- 

 siensis. Several more instances are on record, and 

 now it seems to have again turned up. In the 

 Zoologist for June, it is said to have been taken on 

 a heath near Bournemouth (which would seem to be 

 its favourite locality), and again, in the same maga- 

 zine for July, a gentleman mentions having taken it 

 on Bouriiemouth heath last summer. He also says 

 that a friend showed him two small ones in a bottle, 

 both taken near the same locality. It is to be hoped 

 that the search made for it will not exterminate the 

 species.— /r.7.P.7r. 



Bees' and Wasps' Nests.— There are two in- 

 teresting facts, having reference to the above, which 

 have come under my observation, and I should like 

 to lay them before the readers of your valuable 

 journal. Several years ago I habitually destroyed 

 all the nests of humble bees and wasps that I dis- 

 covered, and have on several occasions observed 

 some interesting details in regard to these insects. 

 I once found the nest of a garden bee {Bombus 

 muscorum), and it was, as usual, constituted of de- 

 cayed grass, and presented, in every respect, the 

 same appearance as that of the nest of the field 

 mouse. It was situated in the long grass of a bank 

 adjoining a field, and soon after its discovery I 

 turned the grass aside with a walking-stick and 

 revealed the nest. I then removed a portion of the 

 dried grass which inclosed the condj, and discovered 

 that two slow-worms {Aiiguis fragilis) were com- 

 fortably resting there. On being disturbed, they 

 immediately retreated into the hedge, and I saw no 

 more of them. There was some honey in the comb, 

 and I was astonished that the bees, being numerous, 

 had not caused the removal of the slov,'-worms 

 previously to my having done so. On another 

 occasion I discovered a nest of the common humble 

 bee {Bombus terrestrii) in the same hole as that of 

 a wasp's {Fespa vulgaris). The season was about 

 the middle of summer, and the nests were situated 

 in the midst of a bush adjacent to a stream. The 

 wasps, in reaching their own habitation, had to 

 actually pass over the nest of the humble bees. 

 The comb of the wasps was situated a few inches 

 deeper in the ground than that of the bees, and it 

 was a very small nest indeed, there being not more 

 than about twelve wasps, and the amount of comb 

 was very insignificant. The bees' nest was a strong 

 one in point of numbers ; but whether the fact of 

 the wasps' nest being so small was owing to the 

 destroying propensities of the bees or to the eariiuess 

 of the season, could not be satisfactorily determined. 

 Probably, however, it was the latter; at any rate, 

 there were no dead wasps found in the nest subse- 

 quent to the removal of the earth. — William F. 

 Denning. 5 



