July 1, 1870.] 



HAKDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



161 



a reversion, and the true explanation is undoubtedly 

 that " the Ustilago penetrates the plant ; but as it 

 can only fructify in the stamens, it would appear to 

 be the determining cause of the production of those 

 organs in the normally female flower." We have 

 planted affected female plants, and we shall be very 

 surprised if any of them prove truly hermaphrodite, 

 should they not be attacked by the fungus. Amongst 

 thousands of unaffected plants we have not found a 

 single one, after a long search, which combines both 

 sexes. — M. J. £., in Gard. Chron., June 4, 1S70, 

 p. 763. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Hawfinch's Nest. — Some of your ornithological 

 correspondents may be interested in knowing that 

 a very beautiful and perfect nest of the hawfinch 

 (Coccothraustes vulgaris), with four eggs, has just 

 been brought me. It was taken in an orchard at 

 Almondsbury, near Bristol, built in the fork of a 

 pear-tree overhanging a moat, and composed chiefly 

 of clematis twigs, lined with vegetable fibre. The 

 birds are not uncommon here in winter, but the 

 occurrence of the nest is unusual.— E. Wheeler. 



DEiLErniLA Livornica at Bhighton. — I have 

 just seen a specimen of Deilephila Livornica, striped 

 hawk-moth, on the setting-board. The insect, 

 which is slightly rubbed, was taken on Tuesday, 

 May 31st, near Brighton, by A. Gates, of Belgrave- 

 strect— T. W. Wonfof, Brighton, June Mh, 1870. 



The Toad. — The toad is a villainous beast. One I 

 day I observed one that had crawled beneath a 

 hive ; there, with his two forepaws advanced and ; 

 his throat wide open, he attracted the innocent 

 bees, with which his sides were distended. — The 

 Abbe Caillett, in Gard. Chron., p. 732. 



Weasels. — It sometimes happens that we wit- 

 ness actions on the part of the higher Mammalia 

 which seem almost to indicate a reasoning faculty 

 in them ; and in illustx-ation of this, I send you the 

 following observation on the weasel (Mustela vul- 

 garis), which happened to a friend of mine, the 

 Bev. J. Monkhouse, of Church Oakley, near 

 Basingstoke. He was driving along a road between 

 Basingstoke and Old Basing, at the beginning of last 

 month, when he saw one of these little animals 

 crossing the road in front of his horse ; it was ap- 

 parently an adult specimen, and, before he could 

 prevent it, the horse accidentally stepped on the 

 animal, and thereby injured it, apparently in the 

 spine, as its hind legs seemed to become paralyzed. 

 On his continuing to watch to see how much it was 

 hurt, and what would happen next, lie was surprised 

 to see another weasel come up to its assistance 

 from the other side of the road, and, after carefully 

 inspecting the invalid, pick it up in its mouth and 

 carry it off to the side of the road from whence 



it had emerged, apparently having fully compre- 

 hended its companion's misfortune, and its inability 

 to get unaided into a place of safety. — H. 



Strange Bees (p. 141). — I also thought I had 

 discovered a new kind of bee, for I saw a great 

 number with the hairs upon the upper part of the 

 thorax of a bright orange colour. These puzzled 

 me. They were evidently hive bees by their shape, 

 but they appeared day after day, and were all co- 

 loured exactly alike. I have never seen Ligurian 

 bees, so at first I thought they might be that 

 kind. However, on watching them carefully the 

 mystery was solved : they were the common hive 

 bee, probably my own, and they were foraging on, 

 or rather in, the flowers of yellow broom, which is 

 just now in perfection ; and the cause of their yellow 

 appearance was this :— The stamens -and pistil of 

 the broom are curved upwards in a remarkable 

 manner, forming a series of almost perfect circles; 

 and as the bees pushed their way into the base of 

 the flowers to sip the honey, the anthers exactly 

 reached to the bees' shoulders, and rested there. 

 So the bees could not help carrying off the pollen 

 to other flowers and other broom-trees, thus uncon- 

 sciously assisting the important process of cross- 

 fertilization. Most likely the appearance described 

 by "A. W." was caused in a similar way. — Roben 

 Holland, June 2nd. 



The Death's-head Moth (Sphinx atropos).— 

 We are a great potato-growing people in my 

 parish, in which all the cottiers have allotment 

 ground, which is yearly devoted to the growth of 

 this esculent. From these plots we have had year 

 by year from two to half a dozen of the larva? of the 

 Death's-head Moth brought to us, for, being known 

 as a lover of " queerosities," for which we are not 

 unwilling to spare some few of her Majesty's 

 medals done in copper, these exquisite caterpillars 

 are sought after and so found. We are inclined to 

 think that the species is much more common than 

 is supposed, and we offer this hint to the dwellers 

 among potato plots.—/. B., Bradford Abbas, Borset. 



The new British Shell (Zonites glaher), of 

 which there are two notices in your June Science- 

 Gossip, one by Mr. Jeffery, the other by the finder, 

 Mr. Rogers. It may be interesting to many of your 

 readers to know a few other localities where I have 

 found and received it from. In 1S62 I received it 

 from Leeds ; in 1S64 my son took it at Guernsey ; 

 in 186S I took it at Bristol ; same year near London ; 

 in 1869 from Jersey ; and I have no doubt it will be 

 found in many collections, where it has been mis- 

 taken for Mr. Jeffreys's var. Z. compacta of cellarius, 

 which shell it approaches very much, but the mouth 

 is more open. I shall be pleased to give informa- 

 tion to any one who would like to forward their 

 specimens to me. W. Rich, 14, Great Russell Street, 

 Bloomsbury. 



