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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[April 1, 1S67. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Black Spider of Jamaica. — There is a spider 

 in Jamaica the bite of which is venomous, being 

 speedily followed by inflammation, with pain and 

 swelling of the wounded part ; the natives are conse- 

 quently much afraid of it. It is of small size, the 

 body not being larger than a small pea, with short 

 legs. It is entirely black, except a spot of bright 

 scarlet upon the head, rendering it so conspicuous, 

 and at the same time so repulsive, that a person 

 unacquainted with its venomous properties would 

 instructively shrink from it ; a peculiar and interest- 

 ing provision of nature, observed in many obnoxious 

 animals, whereby, as St. Pierre and others have 

 remarked, mankind are put on their guard against 

 their attacks, from some peculiarity of form, colour, 

 sound, or other disgusting quality. — W. Sells, in. 

 Jourit. ~Ent. Soc, I. p. xlviii. 



Pose-chafers. — A very pretty species of the 

 Cetoniadce, the Agestrata luconica, is of a fine 

 brilliant metallic green, and found in the Philippine 

 Islands. These the ladies of Manilla keep as pets 

 in small bamboo cages, and carry them about with 

 them whithersoever they may go. — Baud's Cyc. 

 Nat. Sci, 



Little Bustard {Otis tetrax). — A female 

 specimen of this rare bird was shot by Mr. A rah am, 

 of South Clifton, Notts, December 21st, 1 S66. The 

 bird was purchased by Mr. Adriau, naturalist, of 

 Monson Street, Lincoln, by whom it is being pre- 

 served.— H. T. „? 



The Redstart {Phcenicicra rtiticilla).— -The sill 

 of my study window being very much decayed, a 

 pair of redstarts chose it to rear their "young ones 

 in. During the time that the young ones required 

 their parents' attention, I frequently timed the 

 parent bird, and found that she came to the nest 

 twice in five minutes. Before she flew into the 

 nest, she always rested on an espalier, and flew from 

 it direct to the nest, so that I could always bave a 

 fair view of what she brought, which was chiefly 

 caterpillars. As far as singing went, tbe male did 

 his duty, for he sat for an hour together, in the 

 cherry-tree, pouring out his song; but he did 

 little in way of feeding the young. From early 

 dawn to dusk did the hen labour for her brood, 

 aud she could not bring less than 350 caterpillars 

 to the nest in a day ; and thus she did good to 

 that extent; and living, as they do, exclusively on 

 insects, I think they deserve to be classed among 

 our benefactors, and protected accordingly. The 

 cock is a very beautiful bird, in my opinion the 

 most handsome bird we have in England. The hen 

 is a much plainer bird than the cock, aud when she 

 flies, she shows the hazel-red feathers on her rump, 



and is from that peculiarity called here the "brand- 

 tail" and "jenny red-tail." — John Banson, Linton- 

 on-Ouse, York. 



Glaucous Gull {Larus glaucus).—K fine Glau- 

 cous Gull was shot near Dunbar on January 2nd, 

 J 867, by a fisherman of that place. It was a young 

 bird of the first year, and measured six feet across 

 the extended wings. Its total length was twenty- 

 seven inches. A Green-shank {Totanus glottis) 

 was also shot near Dunbar with some difficulty, 

 owing to its being very shy, on December 4th, 1S66. 

 — F. 31. Balfour, Whittinghame, Preslonkirk. 



The ShipwormX^w/o navalis). — Destructive as 

 it may be, the Shipworm will ever be an object of 

 interest to Englishmen, inasmuch as its shell-lined 

 burrow gave to Sir I. Brunei the idea which was 

 afterwards so efficiently carried out in the Thames 

 Tunnel. And, though from tbe alteration of sur- 

 rounding circumstances, that wonderful monument 

 of engineering skill has not been so practically 

 useful as was anticipated, it has proved of incalcu- 

 lable value as pioneer to the numerous railway 

 tunnels of this aud other countries. — Rev. J. G. 

 Wood's "Homes without Hands." 



Value of the Starling to the Farmer.— A 

 pair of starlings having built their nest in our roof, 

 I frequently timed the parents, and found that they 

 returned to the nest, on an average, once in five 

 minutes, and that their labours extended over seven- 

 teen hours a day, i.e. from three in the morning 

 until eight in the evening. This would make the 

 number of visits to the nest 204 in a day : thus, a 

 single pair of birds in the breeding season would 

 destroy 204 slugs, worms, or noxious insects a day, 

 and 5,712 during the month of attendance on their 

 young. In addition, it is to be remembered that 

 they live the whole year through on the same food. 

 Yet there are farmers who destroy them because 

 they build in the pigeon-cot ; but we are glad to 

 find them very much on the increase, and the old 

 prejudices giving way to sounder and more truthful 

 opinions ; for nothing could be more absurd than 

 the half-exploded idea, that because they built in 

 the pigeon-cot, they were injurious to the doves. 

 During the last five years, they have increased fifty- 

 fold in this village, and nearly every cottage has its 

 pair. This is in part owing to natural history 

 having some attention paid to it in the village 

 school. The starling is locally known as the " she- 

 poter." — J. Sanson, Linton-on-Ouse, York. 



" Cardinals." — These spiders, although un- 

 doubtedly first introduced at Hampton Court 

 Palace, probably in some piece of furniture from 

 abroad, have spread thence for several miles round. 

 They are frequently taken in old houses and cot- 

 tages at Cobham, seven miles from Hampton Court 

 in a straight line. — IF. 11. Tate. 



