Dec. 1, 1869.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



07' 



79 



Little Auk. — The readers of your journal may 

 be interested to know that a Little Auk (Alca alle) 

 was captured alive at Harwich, and is now in my 

 possession. Can any of your readers inform me 

 what is the most suitable food for it ? It is very 

 healthy and tame. — James 3Iash,jun., Butter 'Market, 

 Ipswich. 



Leucania vitellina. — In Mr. Wonfor's note, in 

 Science-Gossip for November, of the capture of this 

 rare moth, it is stated, on the authority of Mr. New- 

 man's." British Moths " (1869), that only two speci- 

 mens of it have been taken in England. This state- 

 ment is correct, as far as that work goes; for I find, 

 on reference, that its author says, " two specimens 

 of this delicate insect have been taken in England, 

 both of them at Brighton, by Mr. Thorhcroft." 

 But the iollowing three recorded captures appear 

 to have escaped Mr. Newman's observations, viz., 

 the original one, on which the species was intro- 

 duced as British, by Mr. H. Cooke, at Brighton, in 

 August, 1S56 (recorded in the Substitute and in the 

 Entomologist's Annual for 1857, p. 99) ; another by 

 Mr. F. Bond, in the Isle of Wight, exhibited at the 

 October meeting of the Entomological Society of 

 London, 1860 (recorded in the Zoologist, p. 7269, 

 and in the Entomologist's Annual for 1861, p. 98) ; 

 and a third by Mr. Rogers, at Freshwater, on the 

 21st October, 1S62 (recorded in Zoologist, p. 8296, 

 and Entomologist's Annual for 1S63, p. 150). These 

 omissions appear the more extraordinary as the 

 author of "British Moths " was the editor and 

 publisher of both the Substitute and Zoologist, and 

 is a member of the society above mentioned. Apart 

 from them, it may be observed that it is always 

 safer to use the expression "recorded" than 

 " taken ;" for instance, specimens of Leucania vitel- 

 lina have been taken at Brighton, besides any of those 

 above recorded ; and several have been taken at 

 Deal, by Mr. Syme, and the late P. Bouchard. 

 Specimens from Deal were referred to in Young 

 England, in a paper on the Leucanida, July, 1861, 

 reviewed by Mr. Newman in his Entomologist, Sep- 

 tember, 1861. In Mr. Wonfor's note, the recently 

 captured specimen is stated to have been taken " at 

 Sugur," as if it were the name of a locality ; it 

 should, of course, be " at sugar," a well-known 

 method of collecting by bait. This mistake appears 

 also in a corresponding record in Scientific Opinion. 

 The note in question also'affords an instance of the 

 confusion likely to arise from the use of English names, 

 as the moth is therein termed " The Brighton Deli- 

 cate," whereas in " British Moths " it is called 

 " Delicate " only. Of course, no scientific person 

 could recognize either appellation. Mr. Wonfor's 

 reference to the price (7s. 6d.) at which this speci- 

 men was sold, under the impression that it was only 

 Leucania pallens, is naturally intended to stigmatize 

 the vendor, who asked so much for an insect which, 



as lie must have known, is not worth twopence ; but 

 it seems hardly necessary to have drawn attention to 

 this, as he was fairly punished by the insect in ques- 

 tion turning out more valuable than he supposed. 

 — E. C. Rye, 10, Loioer Park Fields, Putney, S.W. 



Spotted Woodpecker. — As we do not often 

 find a Woodpecker in captivity, perhaps it might 

 be interesting to some of the readers of Science- 

 Gossip to say a few words about the Greater 

 Spotted Woodpecker (Picus major). He certainly 

 is a very interesting bird, much more than one might 

 think. We mostly hear of him in the woods, hunting 

 for food, where he is often heard, but seldom seen. 

 Brought up from the nest he is tame, and a very in- 

 teresting fellow he is. I bought one of a cottager, 

 who had him for about two months, and brought 

 him up exceedingly strong in a small box with a few 

 wires in front. He is now about five months old, 

 and as merry as a cricket. All day long he is at 

 work, tap, tap, tap ; indeed, he will soon have a hole 

 through the top of his cage, which, by the bye, is half 

 an inch thick. He has rather a capacious appetite; 

 he sometimes will eat in a day twelve Spanish nuts, 

 besides bread and hempseed, and pieces from the 

 table, most of which he will take from the hand. 

 For some few weeks I had him in an aviary, but, 

 finding him rather pugnacious, I was compelled 

 reluctantly to remove him, so I had a large cage 

 made for him ; but the aviary is the best place, and 

 mine is large, about six feet square. There he 

 would take his bath almost daily, and climb the 

 tree, carrying sometimes a piece of wood or an apple 

 with him : after playing some little time, he would 

 drop it and carry it up again. At times he would 

 hide his food in the cleft of the tree, sometimes 

 hiding himself behind a stump, just peeping to see 

 where you might be ; at other times performing 

 most amusing antics, quite as lithe and changeable 

 as the Blue Tit. When very pleased or if anyway 

 alarmed, he utters a loud sharp noise, pak ! pack ! 

 and at the same time raises the feathers on top of his 

 head. His favourite way of sleeping is by hanging 

 to the front of his cage with his head thrown back, 

 supporting himself partly with his tail. Although 

 the time for moulting is almost past, my Wood- 

 pecker has not yet commenced. — V. J. W. Rudd. 



Late-Feathered Family. — A thrush's nest has 

 been discovered in a thicket in Keifs Den, Largo, 

 Fifeshire, containing four young ones not fully 

 fledged. Such a discovery in October is rather re- 

 markable.—^. M. P., East Neuk o' Fife. 



Double-brooded. — This season I had 0. Pudi- 

 bunda come out rather early; laid eggs, larva 

 hatched, and eventually became pupa, and these 

 have now become imago again. Is this not some- 

 what remarkable? I have bred the same moth 

 seasons before, but never knew this to occur.— 

 John Purdue. 



