Sept. 1, 1868.] 



HARDAVICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



205 



Kingfisher might be for the purpose of troubling the 

 water, in order to attract the fish to the spot, as we 

 all know the way in which the latter assemble at any 

 place where the water has been recently disturbed. 

 Since writing the above opinion it has occurred to 

 me that the bird may occasionally feed on water- 

 insects, which it may have been diving after when 

 noticed by Mr. Briggs and myself. Mr. Waterton 

 states that in his experience the present species 

 always feed on fish, and he has never found them 

 feeding on anything else ; but I know that the allied 

 species of the genera Ceryle, Corylhornis, and Alcyone 

 do occasionally feed on water-insects, and Mr. 

 Stevenson says, in speaking of a nest, " Amongst the 

 half-digested portions of bone 1 particularly noticed 

 the remains of beetle-cases, and one large fragment 

 of a water-beetle (Notonecta) with the claws com- 

 plete." The food of the Kingfisher is a subject 

 worthy the attention of naturalists, as also are the 

 following questions which have been raised : — 1. Is 

 the female larger than the male ? 2. Is the red 

 mark on the under mandible a true sign whereby 

 the female can be distinguished ? I shall be glad 

 to receive notes on this subject from ornithologists 

 who have the opportunity of personal observation 

 and examination. Unfortunately the Kingfisher is 

 becoming scarcer and scarcer. On the Thames, 

 near Cookham, it is nearly extinct, where it used to 

 be very common. Much of this extermination is 

 due to the persecution the poor birds are subjected 

 to at the hands of those gentlemen who delight in 

 trout-hatching. Near Cookham a noble lord has 

 taken to preserve the fish, and as the Kingfishers 

 evinced too great a partiality for the young fry, 

 they were shot down right and left. Thirteen were 

 killed by the fisherman in charge of the preserves 

 in one week. " There," said he, as he brought two 

 mutilated bodies, all shot to pieces with large shot, 

 to Mr. Briggs, "I reckon I've got them nearly all now. 

 There's only one more, and I shall get him soon." 

 These two unfortunate victims are now in my col- 

 lection. They were both males, and I suspect the 

 females were sitting at the time. I only found 

 one nest this year, which I did not take, much as 

 I want to examine one personally, a pleasure I have 

 never yet met with. 



There is much in the economy of the English 

 Kingfisher still to be worked at, and I hope these 

 few lines, in which only a hasty review of the sub- 

 ject can be taken, may induce some of my readers 

 to interest themselves in the study and protection 

 of .this most beautiful bird. I may, perhaps, be 

 permitted to add that any original communications 

 will be very thankfully received by me, as I wish 

 to make my notice of it in my t: Monograph of the 

 Alcedinidm " as complete as possible. All letters 

 addressed to the care of " The Editor " will reach 

 me safely. 



R. B. Shakpe. 



THE SAND WASP. 



{Odynerus parietum.) 



AVERY small wasp, not larger than a house-fly, 

 but in form and colour much resembling the 

 common wasp, occasionally visits the shrubs in my 

 garden, hovering over and delicately alightiug on 

 the leaves, as if in search of honey-dew. It may be 

 so, but an examination of the formidable weapons it 

 carries suggests the thought of other possible pur- 



Fig. 216. 1. Sting; 2. Tube; 3. Sheath; x 20. 



poses. Its sting presents so remarkable a modifica- 

 tion of the parts lately described by Mr. Mills in 



Fig. 217. 4. Poison tube; 5. Poison bag, x 20. 



his able and elaborate paper that it may be es- 

 pecially interesting just now to point them out. 

 The sting in both this and the common wasp is 

 double ; but in the instance of my little visitor they 

 are placed in separate tubes, diverging from each 

 other like the prongs of a trident, the third being 



