230 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Oct. 1, 1S70. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Yaffel. — Yaffil appears in Mr. Halliwell's " Dic- 

 tionary," ii. 943, as "the Woodpecker/' a term 

 used in Herefordshire. — A. If. 



Yaffel. -This word, referred to by "R.T.,M.A.," 

 does not signify stplant, but the Green Woodpecker 

 {Fleas viridis). This bird has also many other pro- 

 vincial country names, such as Yaffer, Eaqual, or 

 Ecle, &C.—C. F. T. 



Yaffel (p. 215).— Probably the Green Wood- 

 pecker is referred to in the quotation given bv 

 " R. T, M.A." It is usually known as the "Yaffel " 

 among country people; and its loud call, resembling 

 the neighing of a horse, is a well-known sign of 

 rain. — W. 11. Tate, 1, Grove Place, Denmark If ill. 



Yaffel. — " R. T." inquires what plant is referred 

 to as the Yaffel, in the extract from the Athenaeum 

 (Science-Gossip, p. 215). _ Yaffel or Yaffal (or 

 indeed I do not know how it is spelt) is the common 

 name for the Green Woodpecker in the south of 

 Surrey, and its habit of "laughing" at the approach 

 of rain, a matter of common belief. I have no doubt, 

 therefore, that this bird is referred to, and not 

 any plant. — C. G. B. 



Yaffel (p. 215).— This is not a plant, but a 

 bird— the Green Woodpecker {Picks viridis). In 

 the "Pirds of Perks and Pucks' 5 it is spelt Yaffle 

 and Yaffil. The "laughing in the sun because the 

 rain was coming," must refer to the fact that its 

 cry is looked on as a sign of rain ; whence it is called 

 in the north "the Rain-bird." See p. 212.— James 

 Britten. 



Yaffel— In reply to " R. T., M.A.," I do not 

 think Yaffel refers to a plant at all, but to the Green 

 Woodpecker. In the New Forest, where the 

 "sundew and the flowering fern" both grow, it is 

 called the Yaffiugale; and I see, in Atkinson's 

 "British Birds' Eggs," "Yaffle" is given as one of its 

 names. The description : 



" laughing in the sun, 

 Because the rain was coming," 



bears out the explanation giveu in your last num- 

 ber, of its names "Rain-bird" and" Wet-bird."— 

 W. H. Beehy, Croydon. 



Yaffel. — All other correspondents, too numerous 

 to mention, who have sent replies similar to the 

 foregoing, will please accept our thanks. 



Pees and Flowers. — My experience teaches 

 me that bees have not the selective powers attri- 

 buted to them. I have watched them closely and 

 often, and have seen them pass from flower to 

 flower without regard to species. Quite lately I 

 watched them for some time at Sutton, and saw my 

 bees pass from the flower of Carduus palustris, 

 every flower of which they seemed to visit, to those 

 of liuhus corylifollus, which was growing adjacent ; 

 and they appeared to pay equal attention to these 

 flowers. On the same day, at the Suttoii Railway 

 Station, I saw them pass from the flowers of the 

 onion to those of the scarlet-runner. Here both 

 bees and the Cabbage White were very busy, the 

 butterflies paying most attention to the scarlet- 

 runners, the bees to the onion flowers. — James 

 B agnail. 



Water-Peetle Music. — Can you give any in- 

 formation respecting the musical sound produced 

 by the Water-beetle, Dyticus '■ I have had one 

 confined in a glass top box, in which was placed a 

 pan of water with growing weeds, in which the 

 beetle spent most of his time ; at intervals it would 

 get out of the water, particularly at eventide, and 

 would crawl or fly across this box ; but, previous to 

 its flying, it would give out a beautiful musical 

 sound, similar to the sound produced on one string 

 of an iEolian harp ; the tone would last for seme 

 seconds, then stop, and immediately expand its wings 

 and fly across the box. I have watched it closely, 

 but can detect no meaus by which the tones are 

 produced, as the insect is perfectly still whilst the 

 sound continues, but the instant it stops it takes 

 to flight. The first I had is dead. I procured two 

 others ; they were not exactly like the first, being 

 as large again : I kept them in a large box with a 

 pan of water, and their habits were the same, and 

 produced at intervals the same musical tones, and 

 loud enough to be heard across the room. I have 

 been reading Kirby & Spence's "Introduction to 

 Entomology," letter 21, on the noises of insects, 

 but there is nothing said about the Dyticus, though 

 the most interesting accounts are given of other 

 insects. The tone giveu out by this beetle com- 

 mences exactly at lower A on English concertinas, 

 and as it increases in loudness rises a semi-tone to 

 P flat. I have prov ed this several times. Perhaps 

 some of your correspondents can throw a light on 

 the subject— for how the tone is produced it, is out 

 of my power to say ; for while the sound continues 

 the insect is quite still, and I have not been able to 

 detect the least motion of either legs or wings. I 

 sometimes think that it may be produced by the 

 wings under their cases in preparing for flight. — 

 James Fullagar, Canterbury. 



Harvest-bumfs. — Can any of your corre- 

 spondents explain the cause of these gnat-bite 

 looking eruptions ? Many of us know, complain- 

 ingly, they are the irritating accompaniments of 

 Lot weather; but few people, who suffer by them, 

 can offer any opinion better than a speculative 

 surmise as to their production. Medical men 

 generally assert their appearance as a consequence 

 of the heated state of the blood, while some un- 

 professional people attribute them to impeded pores 

 of the skin ; and others positively say a minute 

 insect is the cause, having extracted them, and seen 

 them plainly with the naked eye; though I have 

 frequently applied a small microscope to the spot, 

 before I disturbed it by scratching, but could see 

 nothing that would settle the controversy.— IF. B., 

 Fowey. 



The Puff-tip Moth {Pygorea bucephala). — Early 

 in August 1 obtained several caterpillars of the 

 above moth, and provided them with the necessary 

 food and lodging. About the 22nd ult. some of 

 them became chrysalids of the usual form, but a 

 few others were enclosed in egg-shaped cocoons. 

 Mr. Newman, in his "Natural History of Moths," 

 states that the caterpillars of the Buff-tip " change 

 on the surface of the earth, without any web, 

 cocoon, or protection of any kind ;" but, of course, 

 he did not intend his remarks to apply to the insect 

 in a captive state. I have inspected one of the 

 cocoons, and find that it is inhabited by a whitish 

 maggot-like individual, of a lively temperament. 

 Query, in the words of Sweedlc-pipe : " fs there any- 

 body here that knows him V'—A. T. 



