Dec. 1, 1869.J 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



277 



ZOOLOGY. 



De gustibus non est disputandum. — "Dear 

 Miss," said a lively old lady to a friend of mine who 

 had the misfortune to be confined to her bed by a 

 broken limb, and was complaining that the fleas tor- 

 mented her ; " Don't you like fleas? Well, I think 

 they are the prettiest little merry things in the world ; 

 I never saw a dull flea in all my life ! " — Kirby's 

 Introd. 



The Australian Bee. — Can any reader conver- 

 sant with Australia show any "just cause or im- 

 pediment " why the native bee of that island-conti- 

 nent should not be introduced into Great Britain ? 

 If too tender to propagate itself in a wild state 

 here, it seems admirably adapted for preservation in 

 hives. It lives in societies ; it makes good honey ; 

 it is much smaller than our bee; it builds in trees, 

 and is therefore well suited for wooden hives, or at 

 any rate for the Swiss form of hive ; above all it is 

 perfectly harmless, not being provided with a sting. 

 This last fact alone would cause it to become a 

 great favourite, were it but once brought over. It 

 must, I imagine, be very prolific, as it is pertina- 

 ciously sought after by the natives for the sake of 

 the honey, and, were it not a good breeder, it must 

 have yielded to ages of persecution, like the moa of 

 the same hemisphere. As to the means of trans- 

 port, I presume that either the ova or the grubs in 

 an early stage might be transmitted in ice, easily 

 enough. However, there may be objections to its 

 introduction of which I am ignorant, but on which 

 some Australian may, if he will, throw light. — W. 

 W. Spicer, Havre. 



Badgers. — There was a recent inquiry for notices 

 of Badgers in England. Some have established 

 themselves during several years in a woody glen 

 extending from this house to the sea. One day the 

 children ran to announce that they had seen a 

 strange animal lying in the shrubbery by the side of 

 a large retriever. Both dog and Badger were 

 either blown in the chase, or mutually indisposed 

 for a contest, or the latter (evidently a young one) 

 was feigning death until he scampered off on the 

 nearer approach of the young naturalists; or he 

 might have been playing with the dog, as young 

 Badgers are said to do. The cartloads of rubbish 

 thrown out by the Badgers on the hill -side, show 

 that their holes are large and doubtless commodious, 

 and have more than one entrance or exit. One was 

 seen last year in the garden-walk near the house. 

 But he does not restrict himself to the walks, for 

 he has helped himself to green peas this summer, 

 and revelled in ripe strawberries, dexterously turn- 

 ing back the nets that covered them. I cannot say 

 if this inconvenient taste preceded, or was the re- 

 sult of his evidently free indulgence in wild straw- 



berries. Apples and figs that have fallen in the 

 orchard vary his dessert, whilst he finds more sub- 

 stantial vegetable diet in the turnip and wheat fields. 

 But he is not without his uses, having destroyed 

 many wasps' nests, doubtless for the sake of the 

 grubs. My friend Mr. Hammond told me that a 

 few years ago there was a sudden immigration of 

 many Badgers to a wood near his residence in Kent, 

 and that one of them was white. I have always 

 protected the Hedgehogs, which were once numerous 

 here ; some found their way into the kitchen, and 

 would take milk and bread in a saucer. I think 

 that the Badgers have scared them, as well as Boxes. 

 One of these cunning thieves boldly attempted (a 

 few years ago) to seize, in my sight, a hen at 8 a.m., 

 within two feet of the dining-room window. Once, 

 on an unusually cold winter's night, I was awakened 

 by the breaking of glass in a window which opened 

 on the terrace. Reynard had left footmarks on the 

 snow, and some of his fur on the broken pane. His 

 keen scent had doubtless discovered that there had 

 been woodcock on the supper- table the evening 

 before his attempted burglary. He also climbed up 

 a spruce fir, and thus getting over the yard wall, 

 8 or 9 feet in height, tried in vain to get at poultry 

 in a hen-coop. — C. Fox, Trehale, near Falmouth. 



Great Titmouse {Par us major, Linn.). — This 

 species is generally distributed in Turkey in Asia 

 Minor and Europe, and is pretty numerous. A 

 lively active bird, it frequents gardens very much, 

 seeking its insect food amongst trees, bushes, and 

 nooks of old wood, &c. It is often found in cities 

 and villages, amidst populations, where it builds its 

 nest in [holes of walls, holes of trees, &c. ; it is also 

 found in old woods, which it prefers to low brush- 

 wood; it is rarely seen on bare mountain sides, 

 except where a few old isolated decayed trees 

 remain, whose trunks and branches afford food and 

 shelter to these restless little creatures. They 

 congregate in the winter in parties, and travel over 

 wide districts daily in search of insect food. This 

 species is a constant resident in Turkey. — The 

 Levant Times. 



Blue Titmouse (Parus caruleus, Linn.). — 

 This species is generally distributed in Turkey in 

 Asia Minor and Europe, and is more numerous than 

 Panes major. It is also found in cities and villages, 

 where it builds its nest in holes of walls, old trees, 

 &c, and is often seen in gardens actively engaged in 

 searching the trunks and branches of trees for its 

 insect food. It is most numerous in woods, where 

 the alder, hazel, and oak abound. It is seldom seen 

 in bare mountain districts, except where a moderate 

 proportion of wood exists. They congregate in 

 winter and travel over wide areas in search of insect 

 food, and are constant residents in Turkey. — The 

 Levant Times. 



