May 1, 1S70.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



113 



ZOOLOGY. 



Mummied Beetles.— In the year 1S35 the late 

 Professor Audouin exhibited before the (French) 

 Entomological Society a vase of red clay, resem- 

 bling an orauge in size and form, with a short neck, 

 which had been taken from an ancient tomb at 

 Luxor (the Egyptian Thebes). There was a slight 

 fracture where the neck joined the body, and, on 

 examination, the vase was found to be filled with a 

 black lumpy matter, consisting entirely of the 

 bodies of a small ptinoid beetle (Gibbium Scotias) . 

 The mass was quite compact, so that the number of 

 beetles must have reached several thousands. How 

 are we to explain the presence of such an enormous 

 quantity of individuals of this species in a vase, 

 into which they could not have themselves pene- 

 trated, because, previously to the fracture occurring, 

 it was hermetically sealed ? It is a problem which 

 it is not easy to solve. M. Brulle, who quotes the 

 story in his "Histoire desColeopteres," believes with- 

 out doubt that the circumstance is connected with 

 some superstitious usage of the ancient Egyptians. 

 We leave to archaeologists the task of appraising 

 this theory at its proper value, which, if it be well 

 founded, will go far to settle the difficulty. — Dupon- 

 chel, "Did. d'Hist. Nat." 



Otter. — The Manchester Guardian mentions that 

 a " fine otter was killed on the 21st February in a 

 tributary stream of the river Mersey, about two 

 miles below Stretford. It weighed 11 lb., and 

 measured 3 ft. 3 in. from its nose to the end of its 

 tail." Where it got its food from I am at a loss to 

 imagine, as the locality named is not more than five 

 miles from the heart of Manchester, and the Mersey 

 is by no means clean at that point, having passed 

 through the town of Stockport, a few miles higher 

 up. Mr. Grindon, in an appendix to his " Manchester 

 Walks and Wild Flowers" (circa 1S5S), catalogues 

 the Otter as being found at Ashley and elsewhere in 

 the Bollin every year ; but I believe it is very rarely 

 seen there now. Ashley is about nine miles from 

 Manchester.— £. H. II. 



Birds for an Aviary. — The time is fast 

 approaching when we shall be again visited by 

 some of our best songsters. It may be in- 

 teresting to some of the readers of Science- 

 Gossip to know what a number of beautiful song- 

 birds might be kept in cage, yet few require more 

 trouble and care than the goldfinch. The birds I 

 shall now mention are all soft-billed birds : the night- 

 ingale, woodlark, blackcap, titlark, robin, white- 

 throat, redstart, wren, reed-sparrow, blue-tit, black- 

 tit, &c, will all live in captivity. The nightingale 

 should be taken as soon as he arrives, which is about 

 theOth of April : there is less trouble and more chance 

 of his living and singing than if left until the time 



of nesting. When first taken he will require a 

 little live food, e. g., mealworms or ants, with egg 

 and scraped beef. The nightingale kept in a cage 

 will often do entirely without water, subsisting upon 

 the beef and egg ; but, in an aviary, he not only 

 drinks, but takes his bath daily. The woodlark is 

 considered by many equal to the nightingale, yet 

 how few we see in cage. He will soon become tame, 

 and, if taken in October, will sing the summer 

 through. Those taken in February sing sooner and 

 louder, but do not keep in song so long. The wood- 

 lark is, perhaps, one of the best birds we keep in a 

 cage, both for the little trouble in procuring him, 

 and feeding, requiring nothing more than German 

 paste, with a little bread and hempseed; also for 

 the changeable and beautiful song, some of which 

 contain thirty changes. The nightingale, blackcap, 

 whitethroat, robin, and other warblers, will live in 

 an aviary without any apparent restraint, singing 

 and hopping about quite cheerfully. The most 

 difficult of the birds mentioned to keep alive in 

 captivity are the redstart and wren. Then we have 

 the beautiful and truly wild warbling note of the 

 blackcap, and fine measured note of the titlark. 

 Perhaps it is not generally known that the titlark 

 moults twice in a year ; but such is the case. Nearly 

 all the birds here mentioned require nothing more 

 than the same treatment as the woodlark. Many of 

 these birds will become so tame that they will feed 

 from the hand. A short time ago I had a night- 

 ingale that used to follow me about. I was in the 

 habit of giving him a mealworm two or three times 

 a day. This friendship was established in a few 

 months. One morning I missed the little fellow, 

 and to my regret I found him in the owl's cage. Of 

 course, he was dead ; the owl, as usual, had taken 

 off his head— Chas. J. IF. Rudd, 



" Rivulet Moth."— Mr. John M. Campbell, in 

 stating that Emmelesia affinitata was supposed not 

 to be a Scottish species is doubtless unaware that 

 Mr. C. G. Barrett, the well-known lepidopterist, 

 found this species in Perthshire several years ago, 

 and that it is also said to have been taken in Skye. 

 Both of these localities were recorded some years 

 ago ; but at the same time it is interesting to hear of 

 its occurrence at Partick. From the great resem- 

 blance that E. affinitata has to E.alchemillata, which 

 is a common species in Scotland and Ireland, it is 

 possible that it may be often overlooked.— F. Bucha- 

 nan White, 1I.D. Edin., Perth. 



Sea-Hare.— At the meeting of the Zoological 

 Society of London, on the 21th March last, a com- 

 munication was read from Mr. Jonathan Couch, of 

 Polperro, C.M.Z.S., describing a new species of 

 Aplysia, or Sea-hare, which had recently occurred on 

 the coast of Cornwall, and which he proposed to call 

 A. melanopus. 



