HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



119 



elms. It was left untouched for six months, and when 

 cleared away was found to be pierced through and 

 through with elm-roots. Does this make for or against 

 Mr. Reeves's theory ? 



Query as to Egg. — Will any of the oological 

 readers of Science-Gossip kindly tell me the name 

 of the following egg, taken in this district two years 

 ago? In size and appearance it exactly resembles 

 that of the moorhen, but the nest was built on the 

 ground, like that of the plover, and contained only 

 two eggs. The bird, which I saw several times, was 

 like an ordinary blue pigeon. A friend of mine took 

 several eggs of the same kind, and he informs me 

 that they are quite new to him. — G. Dixon. 



Fungus on Eggs. — If T. Brown, who complains 

 of fungus in his eggs, will rinse each egg out with a 

 solution of one teaspoonful of corrosive sublimate in 

 a quart of alcohol or methylated spirits, inserted by 

 means of a glass bulb suction-pipe, or a small glass 

 syringe, and expelled with an ordinary blow-pipe, 

 his eggs will never in future be troubled by fungus 

 or anything else of a similar nature. The eggs will 

 be right for ever in any climate or conditions, except 

 in the matter of breakage and such like casualties. 

 The solution mentioned must be used with care, it 

 being a very strong poison. 



Second Growth of Raspberries. — The fol- 

 lowing extract from my diary of last year may 

 possibly interest some of your readers : — "November 

 19th, observed in the garden of Mr. Young, at Monge- 

 ham, near Deal, a second growth of raspberries, ripe 

 and luscious as summer-grown ones." I may add 

 that the garden lies high and exposed and was a few 

 days after covered with snow, the first token of the 

 hard winter which followed. — J. Wallis, Deal. 



Young Birds and their Nests. — Some friends 

 of mine have had an argument about young birds 

 leaving their nest. The point is this : Do young 

 birds, alter taking their first flight, finally leave the 

 nest, or do they return to it as a temporary shelter 

 until they are strong enough to forage for them- 

 selves? — y. E. Gore. 



Local Plant and Bird-Names from North- 

 MARSTON, Bucks. — Cuckoo, early purple orchis ; 

 smellsmock, icuckoo flower or ladysmock ; crazies, 

 marsh marigold, lesser celandine ; blind-eyes, scarlet 

 poppy. [The scarlet poppy received the name of 

 blind-eyes no doubt, from the superstition, that if 

 you got it near to your eyes, or touched your eyes 

 with your hands after gathering it, it would blind 

 you, a belief still prevalent in this village, and else- 

 where. Children are cautioned by their parents 

 "not to gather it, for it will blind your eyes," they 

 say. This common saying makes them rather afraid 

 to gather this flower, and thus the pretty scarlet 

 petals of the poppy are left alone to fall, or to be 

 scattered by the wind.] Cows and calfs, cuckoo 

 pint or arum ; moons, moon daisy, white ox-eye ; 

 halfsmart, yellow bedstraw ; kingfingers, bird's-foot 

 trefoil ; bird's-eye, germander speedwell. [The name 

 bird's-eye was no doubt given to the germander 

 speedweed by our ancestors, who thought that the 

 flower resembled the eye of a bird.] Celery (or 

 salery), common sorrel. [The leaves of the common 

 sorrel, and the fruits of the mallow are eaten by the 

 children here. The local name of the former flower 

 is perhaps a corruption of the word salad, and the 

 latter name of " cheeses " is from the form of the 

 fruit or seed, which is round and resembles the form 

 of a complete cheese.] Cheeses, mallow (fruit of 



the) ; gill-run-the-ground, ground ivy. [The local 

 name of the ground ivy was given to it, from its 

 spreading or running habits over the ground.] Bull- 

 rush, great reedmace ; bindweed, large convolvulus ; 

 combine, small convolvulus ; woodbine, honeysuckle. 

 [The local names of the convolvulus (major and 

 minor) and the honeysuckle, needs no explanation, as 

 the derivation of their names is quite clear.] Horse- 

 mint, common mint ; burweed, common goosegrass 

 or cleavers ; mayweed, corn feverfew ; pussy cat, 

 catkin of willow ; willow-weed, periscaria ; pigeon 

 felt, fieldfare ; redwing felt, redwing ; gor-crow, 

 carrion crow ; thresher or thrusher, song-thrush ; 

 then (or fen) thresher, missel-thrush ; water wash- 

 disher, water wagtail ; yellow wash-disher, yellow 

 wagtail ; chink and chinkchawdy, chaffinch ; dicky, 

 common wren ; heakle or heekle, green woodpecker ; 

 redtail, redstart ; peewit, lapwing ; haybirds, white- 

 throat (major and minor ) ; mollyherne and moUern, 

 heron ; woodpigeon, ring-dove ; screech owl, tawny 

 owl ; bumbarrel, longtailed-tit ; green linnet, green- 

 finch ; cuckoo's mate, wryneck. — H. G. Ward. 



Parrots and their Eggs. — A pair of East- 

 Indian tinged parrokeets laid six eggs on alternate 

 days on the bare bottom of a large cage (having 

 refused to use various offered conveniences to nest 

 in) ; sat twenty-eight days ; hatched three, perfectly 

 free from any sort of down. When twenty-one days 

 old, down began to appear, and eyes became partially 

 opened. Owing to their habit of crawling about the 

 cage, two have been killed, but the third (now four 

 weeks old) is well and strong. The parent birds are 

 evidently preparing to lay again. — B. L. Hooper, 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



To Correspondents and Exchangers. — As we now 

 publish Science-Gossip earlier than formerly, we cannot un- 

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To Dealers and Others. — We are always glad to treat 

 dealers in natural history objects on the same fair and general 

 ground as amateurs, in so far as the "exchanges" offered are 

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Special Note. — There is a tendency on the part of some 

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To OUR Recent Exchangers. — We are willing and helpful 

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J. Hunt. — The bound vol. of Science-Gossip for 1872 is out 

 of print, but the publishers can supply you with all the parts 

 for that year, except January. 



H. W. D.— Apply to Mr. Geo. Dowker, F.G.S., Stour- 

 mouth House, near Wingham, Kent, for information respecting 

 the " South-Eastern Naturalist." 



A. Mayfield. — The fossil tooth imbedded in flint is that of 

 a species of Lamna. 



EXCHANGES. 



Exchange for minerals, &c., good transparent crystals of 

 selenitc (various forms), some remarkable in having taken up 

 sand during crystallisation. — W. Gamble, 2 West Street, New 

 Brompton, Kent. 



SciENCE-Gossip, 1885 to 1890, complete, with 23 coloured 



