02 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



common feathered visitants — being ruthlessly shot. 

 The same fate also, I am sorry to say, befel half-a- 

 dozen of the gulls. — Albert H. Waters, B.A. Cam- 

 bridge. 



Ants and their Pupa. — Can any one who has 

 watched the movements and habits of ants inform me 

 whether they compete with each other for the honour 

 of carrying their pupa (sometimes erroneously called 

 ants' eggs) to and fro between the interior and the 

 exterior of the nest ? Eminent naturalists have told 

 us that they bring their larva and pupa out into the 

 sunshine frequently, and with incredible labour, and i 

 I am desirous of knowing if the labourers appear 

 eager or otherwise for this work. — Emmet. 



Query about Eggs. — As a young collector, I 

 want to know whether any of your readers would be 

 so kind as to inform me of the names of two eggs. 

 One is white about the size of a robin's, slightly 

 mottled with red, with a bright red band across the [ 

 top, and found in a hedge. The other is a blue one, I 

 slightly mottled with red, long and rather bigger 

 than a green-finch's, with a bright red band round 

 the top. If any person would be so kind as to let 

 me know, I should be much obliged. — J. G. R. L>., 

 Suffolk. 



Wren's Nest at Christmas. — Were the eggs 

 fresh, or was it a last season's nest with forsaken 

 ones ? — J . Steel, Greenock. 



Can Flowers while drying be prevented 

 from losing their Colour? — I shall be much 

 obliged if any of your correspondents will inform me 

 how to prevent flowers while drying from losing their 

 colour, or of any work on the subject. — R. B. L. 



Works on Falconry. — In reply to the inquiry 

 by P. M. K. in the January number of Science- 

 Gossip respecting falconry, the best work on the 

 subject is "Falconry in the British Isles," by Salvin 

 and Brodrich, published by Van Voorst, Paternoster 

 Row.— S. C. H. 



Noise made by Water Snails. — I think if 

 C. F. P., Weymouth, will observe closely, he will find 

 that the noise he mentions is caused by the snail 

 drawing the shell against the glass as he moves up 

 the sides of the aquarium ; I have known several 

 similar cases. — S. C. H. 



Ages of Stags. — The antlers give a very fair 

 idea of the age of stags ; they never increase much in 

 weight after seven or eight years of age. At about 

 twelve years the horns begin to diminish in weight. 

 I have known several stags look very old at fifteen 

 or sixteen years, and they have generally died before 

 they have reached the age of twenty years. Fallow 

 deer do not live so long. — S. C. IT. 



Cuckoos denuded of Feathers. — About ten 

 years ago an intimate friend of mine, living in 

 Somersetshire, reared up a young cuckoo, which was 

 taken from the nest of a dunnock {Accentor modularis). 

 Early in September its cage was found open, and 

 all search for the prisoner proved futile. One day, 

 however, about the middle of winter, when moving 

 the rubbish from an unoccupied room, the fugitive 

 was discovered huddled together in a corner sur- 

 rounded by its own feathers, which had been shed, 

 the bird itself being covered only with a kind of 

 down. Soon after being disturbed it succumbed to 

 the demands of Mors. — T. J. Lane. 



To preserve Birds'-Eggs. — With reference to 

 E. P.'s query in Science-Gossip for January last, 



relative to the preserving of birds' -eggs, I would 

 mention the following as at least equal to, if not 

 better than any other with which I am acquainted : 

 The shells being emptied of their contents, and the 

 interiors well washed with water, should be rinsed 

 out with a saturated solution of perchloride of mercury 

 (Corrosive sublimate) in spirit of wine, then placed 

 near a fire till perfectly dry. Now take the albu- 

 minous portion of a fresh egg, and with a camel's 

 hair pencil apply it as a varnish to the whole of the 

 outside, excepting a small space on which it may 

 rest whilst drying, in order that it might not become 

 cemented to the material on which it is placed to 

 diy. When quite dry the hole or holes should be 

 covered by means of thin gummed paper. They are 

 now ready for the cabinet, and if placed in a moder- 

 ately dry locality, will both escape mould and retain 

 their colour much more perfectly than when unvar- 

 nished. Some eggs, such as those of the Falconidce, 

 Strigidae, and Laridre, require a second coat, the 

 former one being absorbed through the loose texture 

 of the shells. Care should be taken not to allow the 

 mercurial solution to run over the exterior, or the 

 colour will be destroyed. — T. J. Lane. 



Curious Freak. — A neighbour showed me the 

 other day a white bantam hen which is about five 

 years old, lays regularly, and has brought up chickens ; 

 this year it has moulted like a cock and crows. You 

 could not observe any difference between it and a 

 cock of the same species. I have seen a duck with 

 drake plumage. — S. A. B. 



Popular Names. — In the interest of beginners, 

 like myself, I should like to see more frequent use 

 made of the popular names of plants and animals in 

 the pages of Science-Gossip. It is always easy to 

 add the scientific name in parenthesis, and the papers 

 are then intelligible to outsiders as well as the 

 initiated. I appeal more particularly to our able 

 botanical contributors, for surely it is in every sense 

 a loss when we bid farewell to the old familiar names 

 of our country's flora, many of which are so poetic, 

 others historic, but all expressive, and full of pleasant 

 associations. Numerous articles on botany can only 

 be understood by a beginner at the cost of laborious 

 reference, simply because the English names are not 

 quoted. True, such reference is first-rate educational 

 exercise, but everybody has not the inclination for it, 

 and the general reader cannot be expected to attempt 

 it. Moreover, I think, that the use of the scientific 

 and popular names side by side is more likely than 

 anything else to impress upon the mind the indi- 

 viduality of the plant. — Sciolist. 



Fleas in Hedgehogs. — I have read with some 

 interest the various remarks concerning fleas in 

 hedgehogs. I have repeatedly noticed these creatures 

 are infested with them, and the last one I found and 

 brought home was literally swarming with these 

 parasites, and the handkerchief I carried him in must 

 have had a dozen at least left on it when I took the 

 hedgehog out. The creature was perfectly healthy, 

 but it was unpleasant having him even in a garden, 

 and I was only too glad early to restore him to the 

 hill-top where he was found. — Hamilton James. 



How TO MOUNT Mosses. — Could any bryologist 

 furnish a short account as to the best mode of mount- 

 ing mosses for the Herbarium, other than those given 

 by Dr. Braithwaite in "Notes on Collecting and 

 Preserving Natural History Objects ?"— J. R. M. 



Dissolving and thickening Dyes. — I have 

 been trying to make some ink to use with the Chromo- 



