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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



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they seem less timid ax the approach of man than 

 their congeners the rooks. — J. M., JVezu Brompton, 

 Kent. 



The Colour Sense in Cattle. — The degree in 

 which various species of animals are able to appreciate 

 colour has lately been the subject of discussion. It 

 .seems to me that the displeasure shown by cattle at 

 scarlet or blood-red objects is presumptive evidence 

 that they can discriminate between these shades and 

 the dull brownish-red so common in their own species. 

 It might indeed be contended that like certain birds 

 •they take offence at colours bordering upon their 

 ■own. But I have never heard that the dislike of red- 

 .ness is at all confined to red cattle. On the contrary, 

 it is manifested by wild species of the ox tribe, which 

 .are never red, and by the wild cattle of Chillingham 

 .and Lyme park, which are uniformly white. Does 

 any correspondent of Science-Gossip know an in- 

 stance of any animal being excited to anger by blue, 

 .yellow, or orange objects ? — J. W. Slater, Aylesbury. 



Mistakes made by Instinct. — It has struck me 

 that it would materially help to advance the new 

 study of comparative psychology, if our correspondents 

 Avould put on record good and well-authenticated 

 illustrations of the mistakes made by animals. We 

 hear much of their marvellous instincts, but not- 

 withstanding, there is a tendency to magnify their 

 character, and little or nothing is said of the mistakes 

 of instinct, whereby we might learn even more of 

 animal psychology. I refer to such mistakes as that 

 made by the humming-bird hawk-moth, fluttering 

 over the artificial flowers of a lady's bonnet, or a 

 bee which buzzed into the grip of a sea-anemone, as 

 recorded by Jonathan Couch.-— J. E. Taylor. 



House-flies and their Parasites.— In reply 

 to the request of the Rev. W. Marston Beeby, con- 

 cerning the parasite described on page 21 column I 

 in Science-Gossip, I can unhesitatingly assure him 

 that it is the well-known fly-parasite called Chelifer, 

 the surname of which used to be Fasciatus ; but in a 

 slide I have (prepared by Mr. Cole, see the bottom 

 of the second page of your advertisement wrapper) it 

 is labelled Cancriodes. Mr. C. can, probably, supply 

 the object ; but he has added to the label the words 

 " very rare." In truth I have never seen but one in 

 life, and that was, as your correspondent describes, 

 adhering with wonderful tenacity to the leg of a 

 common house-fly, Musca domestica. Mr. B. com- 

 pares the claws of this insect to those of the lobster, 

 but they are still more like those of the scorpion, 

 and, in fact, the common name is scorpion insect ; it 

 is a perfect scorpion all but the tail. Its having eight 

 legs shows it to belong to the great family of spiders, 

 and therefore, in strict definition, is not an " insect " 

 at all, as no insect proper has more than six. There 

 is another variety of this kind still more striking raid 

 -curious, the Obisium trombidioides, but which is still 



more rare and hard to meet with, and is the true 

 lobster insect. I have two slides of it, but have never 

 seen it in life. But to return to the Chelifer, I will 

 transcribe a passage from that very useful and pleasing 

 little work entitled "Objects for the Microscope," 

 by the Rev. L. Lane Clarke (London : Groom- 

 bridge & Sons : 5 Paternoster Row). " Chelifer ; this 

 parasite attacks flies. I have seen a common fly 

 run wildly about the window-pane, shaking itself 

 violently, and apparently in great distress. Upon 

 catching it, I found a small scorpion-like creature 

 fixed upon one of its thighs by a pair of tremendous 

 claws. Hardly could it be detached for examination, 

 and then it ran quickly like a crab, sideways. The 

 Chelifer belongs to the Trachean Arac/uiida ; that is, 

 they breathe by means of trachea and spiracles, and 

 not as the higher order of spiders, by lungs, or 

 internal gills. They have eight legs, two long palpi, 

 armed with claws, the eyes are at the side of the 

 thorax, and the flat abdomen is jointed." In conclu- 

 sion, I would add a few words upon the question 

 whether the Chelifer is a parasite, or merely an 

 occasional foe of the fly ? From its extreme rarity I 

 should undoubtingly say the latter ; that is to say, if 

 by "parasite" is meant something bred upon another 

 animal ; just as mites are upon apiece of stale cheese, 

 for example. The reason why the Chelifer, when 

 caught in the house, is usually found on the " window - 

 fly " is because, as every one knows, it is by far the 

 most common domestic insect, as its name of Musca 

 domestica clearly indicates : but I have no doubt that 

 the Chelifer would make equally free with the leg of 

 a Tipula oleracea (Daddy Long-legs) if it happened 

 to come in his way. — H. U. J., Exeter. 



Design in the Nests of Birds. — At a recent 

 meeting of the North Staffordshire Field Naturalists' 

 Club Dr. M'Aldowie read an excellent paper on the 

 above subject. He said in no class was the special 

 design for the protection of offspring better seen than 

 in the bird class. The great majority, especially the 

 weak, trusted to concealment, which was effected 

 first by the location of the nest, usually of some in- 

 conspicuous material, in bushes, holes, trees, and 

 banks. A second method of concealment was by con- 

 structing the nests of material similar in appearance 

 to that which surrounds it. This was adopted by the 

 chaffinch, the common wren, and the martin. Thus 

 the chaffinch would place its nest in the fork of a tree, 

 and construct it so cunningly of mosses and lichens 

 that it had the appearance of an excrescence on the 

 branch. Dr. M'Aldowie had noticed a striking 

 illustration of this method in the cliffs along the coast 

 of Kincardineshire, where the martins built their nests 

 in the granite or gneiss of material exactly similar in 

 appearance. The third form of concealment was in 

 the colour of the eggs being much like the soil on 

 which they are laid. This was seen in the lapwing 

 and skylark. They often choose the side of a small 



