HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSJP. 



1S9 



a greenish grey, streaked with deep yellowisli brown, 

 I sent to J\Ir. T. W. Dealy, of Sheffield, for his 

 opinion of them, and he informs me that, after com- 

 paring tliem with others in his own collection, he 

 has come to the conclusion that they are those of 

 the R'ed-winged Starling. As this is an American 

 bird which seldom breeds in England, I thought the 

 fact worth communicating to other egg-collectors 

 through your valuable columns. — A. Wylcs, Leeds. 



Herons and Rooks.— I take it that it is by no 

 means general for herons and rooks to live 

 peaceably in a common home. Heronries that I 

 have known, notably the fine one at Dynevor Castle, 

 Llandilo, the seat of the noble owner, Lord Dynevor, 

 being situated upon taller trees than rooks care to 

 build upon, that is, where such trees exist. I write 

 more, however, to direct attention to a varying 

 instance. At the old, and once nigh-regal residence, 

 Wanstead-park, there is a very extensive island, 

 o'ergrown with masses of aquatic and semi-aquatic 

 vegetation. Here upon very low trees— mere saplings 

 — herons build freely, and the young might be 

 Ijrought down with stones — sitting upon the branches 

 — could the island be reached. Rooks nest abun- 

 dantly amongst these trees, near to, if not quite 

 beside, the herons' nests. I have shot the young 

 rooks thereon, but I have not seen the least 

 antagonism displayed between what appeared to be 

 those highly friendly colonies, so anti-homogeneous 

 notwithstanding. — William Earley, raleiitincs. 



Strength of Beetles. — A similar instance to 

 that mentioned by Mr. Sclater a short time ago 

 has happened during my own experience. A few 

 summers ago I remember putting four or five male 

 stag-beetles {Lucanus Cei-inis), pro tern., into a good- 

 sized chip-box. This box had an exceedingly tight- 

 fitting cover, which I thought wo'rld resist all attempts 

 made to escape on the part of their "Stagships." 

 Great was my surprise, however, upon going to the 

 box some two or three hours afterwards, to find it 

 empty, with the cover off and lying on the table, 

 and the fugitive beetles crawling about on the carpet. 

 I know for a certainty that no one had been near 

 the box in question during my absence, so that 

 these insects must have pushed the cover off by main 

 force. Another beetle which I have found to possess 

 great muscular power is the curious Typhaeus 

 vulgaris. I once captured a male specimen of this 

 insect and lodged it in a small box until I was at 

 leisure to examine it. As the cover, however, was 

 rather large for the box, I took the precaution to 

 place a heavy preserve-pot (which was close at 

 hand) upon it to keep it down in its place. But 

 I was greatly astonished sometime after to see the 

 cover being raised several times and the jar tilting 

 on one side, the result of the imprisoned insects' 

 efforts to escape. The Dor-beetle ( Geofnipcs verualis) 

 is also said to have enormous strength, but I have 

 had no opportunity of observing this. — G. O. Ho-vell. 



Eggs of Yama-mai. — In answer to Mr. Doe's 

 inquiry respecting Dr. Wallace's successor — he was 

 a Mr. Teutschel, who in turn was succeeded by Mr. 

 S. H. Gaskell, 147, Brinnington, Stockport, where 

 I have for years past obtained all the requirements 

 of sericulture. — Arthur Smyth, Parraeombe, Dez'oii. 



Bees and Paint. — The other day, as I was 

 painting a new beehive, not far from an apiary, a lot 

 of bees hovered round me, some even alighting on 

 the newly-painted hive, as though enjoying the paint. 

 Can any of your readers give the cause of this, 

 to me, somewhat remarkable occurrence? — Arthur 

 Smyth, Parraeombe. 



Drying Brittle Plants. — Most botanists wilt 

 have observed that many plants, though quite supple 

 when fresh, lose all their flexibility when dry, and 

 have a provoking tendency to crumble to powder 

 with very slight pressure indeed. This is the case 

 with the various species of Chara and with the leaves 

 of many flowering plants. It is very annoying, after 

 sending a parcel of specimens carefully packed to a 

 friend, to learn that on its arrival many of them were 

 so much broken as to be scarcely recognizable ; and 

 if any correspondent can give a simjale method of 

 treating such species so that they will retain their 

 pliability when dry, as many of our favourites are 

 now Ijlooming around us, the information will be 

 both useful and opportune. — D. Douglas. 



Hybrid Primula. — I found the other day what 

 I supposed to be an oxlip, but which seems to be a 

 hybrid between a cowslip and a primrose, in a ditch 

 between a field of cowslips and a wood containing 

 primroses. The oxlip had a large thick stalk and 

 flower, which was surrounded by half a dozen or 

 more primroses, all springing from the same point 

 and attached to the same root. Can any of your 

 readers tell me if this is a common occurrence? — 

 B. JF. Hant. 



Is the Lemming found in England?— On the 

 14th of May in the present year, whilst walking 

 from Pattendale into Mardale, over the High Street 

 range, we observed, at a height of about 2,500 feet 

 above the level of the sea, a great number of small 

 holes in the ground. These holes were very irregu- 

 larly disposed, but there was a continuous line of 

 them (many evidently quite new) for some distance 

 along what is nearly the highest part of the range, 

 and they lay behind the shelter of the stone wall 

 which runs parallel to the old Roman road from 

 which this mountain derives its name. These holes 

 excited our curiosity, for we had never seen anything 

 exactly like them before. They were apparently too 

 small to have been made by moles, being very little 

 more than an inch in diameter, and were excavated 

 in many cases through the snow, which was still lying 

 in considerable quantities on this, the eastern side of 

 the wall. All the newest holes were surrounded by 

 a ring of the earth which had been thrown out, and 

 carefully piled up. In the case of others which had 

 evidently been buried for some time beneath the snow, 

 the latter had pressed down and often partly or alto- 

 gether removed the heaps of soil. On looking more 

 closely, we discovered that the holes were connected 

 by innumerable underground runs tunnelled as near as 

 possible to the surface, for the roof of some of them 

 had been displaced, allowing us to perceive the 

 breadth and depth of the passage, which was about 

 one inch or so in width, and was continued under the 

 snow. Putting aside a mole — for these appearances 

 were utterly unlike any mole-heaps we had ever seen 

 — what animals could have made and inhabited these 

 holes and runs in such an elevated position? We 

 watched in vain for one to come forth : probably 

 they were aware of our neighbourhood, for they took 

 care not to show themselves. The only creatures we 

 could think of whose homes would at all resemble 

 those described, was the lemming. This curious 

 little animal lives in communities, burrowing near 

 the surface in search of the roots on which in winter 

 it subsists, and is very shy of showing itself. But 

 are there any lemmings in England ? They are not 

 supposed to inhabit these islands now, though their 

 fossil remains are sometimes found. If, however, 

 any do exist here still, perhaps the highest points of 

 the Lake district would be as suitable a place for 

 them as we could find ; for Norway and Lapland 



