HARD WICKE 'S S CIENCE - G OS SIP. 



165 



the largest trees seen in England. It has a large 

 round furry leaf ; is, as all other Australian trees are, 

 evergreen, but it makes no timber, the trunk being 

 simply a tube filled with pith, and one stroke of the 

 axe will fell a young tree about a foot through. The 

 tree is well known, very common, and carefully 

 guarded against ; but if by accident one does happen 

 to touch a leaf, it is an occurrence one does not easily 

 forget. Surveying a line one day through the dense 

 scrub, I happened inadvertently to brush against a 

 young tree, and the leaves just touched the back of 

 my hand. The pain caused was extreme, and ex- 

 tended immediately right up the arm, with a sensa- 

 tion as if the arm were paralyzed, and it was quite 

 useless ; and a swelling, the size of an egg, appeared 

 within five minutes exactly under my arm. These 

 symptoms lasted some hours, then a smart tingling 

 was left ; but this remained for six weeks, and it was 

 considerably increased by wetting the part with cold 

 water. — Brisbmie. 



Peregrine Falcon. — I am not surprised, seeing 

 the initial blunder which I made, that Mr. Dealy 

 does not quite understand the purport of my observa- 

 tions as to the specific value of the so-called Falco 

 anatiiin. If you will kindly allow me a little more of 

 your space, I will briefly reconsider Mr. Dealy'sgrounds 

 for his conclusions. That gentleman says: "The 

 American bird is an inch or two the longest .... 

 of a darker shade of colour" ; also, "not having skins 

 of the two birds at hand, I am not able to point out 

 the difference which I feel sure exists." I wish I 

 could have the pleasure of showing Mr. Dealy the 

 splendid series of 46 mounted specimens of Falco 

 peregrinus which I have to-day examined, and from 

 which I selected five adult males from widely distant 

 localities ; viz. Port Kennedy, Greenland, England, 

 Ceylon, and Formosa. I think he would agree with 

 me that it would be impossible, the localities being 

 withheld, to distinguish the North American species 

 from the others, so exactly similar are they in all 

 respects. The same applies to five adult females ; one 

 from the Saskatchewan River, Hudson's Bay, New 

 York, England, and Egypt. I hope Mr. Dealy will 

 give me credit for being too old a bird myself to 

 found my comparison on immature specimens ; it is 

 between adult birds from the purposely selected far- 

 distant localities, that I can find "no perceptible 

 difference " ; that is to say, none greater than there 

 exists between undoubted individuals of any other 

 species. With regard to the habits of the so-called 

 F. anatiim, Mr. Dealy says, quoting from Wilson, that 

 it ^^ never" carries off the duck on striking it, but 

 permits it to fall previous to securing it. Wilson 

 makes rather a strong assertion when he uses the word 

 "never," as, judging from the difficulty he experienced 

 in procuring a specimen, he probably had no very 

 extensive acquaintance with the bird. Be this as it 

 may, the Duck-hawk has not the habit all to itself, 

 for the Peregrine often does the same ; and I repeat, 

 it is a curious circumstance that the Peregrine in 

 Gould's plate should be represented as striking down 

 the bird in precisely what is stated to be the Duck- 

 hawk fashion ; showing that the habit is not confined 

 to the latter species, and therefore is of no value as a 

 distinctive character. Mr. Dealy says " the Peregrine 

 never frequents swamps of any description — always 

 rocky ground," and that it " has never been known to 

 construct its nest on a tree of any sort — always on the 

 rocks," whereas the Duck-hawk breeds in swamps on 

 tall trees. In my previous note I gave numerous 

 instances of the European F. peregrintts habitually 

 nesting on the ground in swamps in Lapland, 

 Northern Finland, and Livonia. I also gave instances 



of its nesting in trees in North Germany "as a rule," 

 and even in a church steeple. The Duck-hawk, 

 therefore, cannot be said to have the exclusive 

 monopoly of trees ; consequently, as this habit also is 

 shared by the European race, it cannot be said to be 

 distinctive, unless indeed the North German Falcon 

 be F. anaiunt. Seeing, therefore, that the so-called 

 F. anatuni differs so little (if at all) in appearance 

 from F. peregrinus, and does not appear to have a 

 single habit which is not in a more or less degree 

 shared by the latter species, I for one am content to 

 accept the decision of modern ornithologists, and 

 regard the two races as identical in species. — T. 

 Southzvell. 



Ornithological Errors. — It makes me feel 

 uneasy for the welfare of Ornithology when I see that 

 one author remarks that our W^agtails jerk their tails 

 to arouse the clouds of insects which infest their 

 haunts (by the way, does the sprightly Magpie, or the 

 little Redstart, both veritable tail-jerking birds, per- 

 form these motions for the same object ?) ; or that the 

 Robin decorates his nest with a plentiful lining of 

 feathers, and that the feathers from the base of the 

 Rook's bill are rubbed off by frequent collision with 

 the earth ; and when I see an ornithologist arguing 

 over the specific distinction of a bird which he has 

 never seen. As to the latter circumstance, I very 

 much doubt if his (Mr. Dealy's) present opinions 

 would have come before the public if he had had 

 access to the recent works on ornithology. He has 

 based his opinions entirely on the writings of authors 

 whose facilities of observation were extremely limited. 

 I hope that, since those volumes were circulated, 

 ornithology has risen to a science which brings her 

 students to nature for knowledge. I hope Mr. Dealy 

 will see these remarks, and kindly give me his opinion 

 on the matter. I hope to prove to him how much 

 better it is to describe birds which we have observed 

 in their native wilds, than to attempt to describe the 

 habits of a bird from the writings of others. — Charles 

 Dixon, Heeley, near Sheffield. 



Query about a Flower. — I think the flower 

 referred to by Shelleyis the Crown Imperial {Fritillaria 

 imperialist. Its nectaries ai'c filled with large drops of 

 liquid, which, from the pendulous habit of the corolla, 

 are scattered either on the earth or leaves when the 

 plant is agitated by the wind. — G. S. 



Query as to a Flower. — "A. H.," in the May 

 number of Science-Gossip, asks what flower Shelley 

 refers to in lines which are quoted. May it not be 

 the Arum that is meant ? I have observed a copious 

 exudation of a watery fluid from the tendril-like 

 extremity of the blossom of this plant. I refer to the 

 cultivated variety. Perhaps the wild ones exhibit the 

 same peculiarity, but I have not noticed it.— JF. y . 

 Horn. 



Exudation from Sycamores. — I have fre- 

 quently noticed, under lime-trees and sycamores espe- 

 cially, that flagstones overshadowed by them have 

 been quite covered with drops of some apparently 

 gummy exudation — I presume from the leaves. I 

 have sometimes thought it might be caused by aphides, 

 but have failed to see any when I have looked. It 

 appears to be more noticeable after some duration of 

 hot weather. Perhaps some correspondent may be 

 able to explain this. — W. J. Horn. 



Endive. — In connection with the reading of Mr. 

 Glasspoole's interesting paper on "The History of 

 our Salad Herbs," a very interesting remark of 



