214 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



he found nineteen of these puff-balls in a field bor- 

 dering the Dene, and that by bringing home one of 

 medium size he found the average size would be— 

 circumference, 3 ft. G in. ; height, 1\ in. ; weight, 5 

 pounds. These would thus be six times as large as 

 mine. The editor of the Zoologist, Mr. E. Newman, 

 appends a note saying that Lycoperdon giganteum 

 has been found measuring49 inches in circumlerence, 

 which is yet 7 inches more than these. 1 am much 

 obliged to Martin (Jardiner for giving me the light 

 name of this species, L. bovista, or L. giganteum. I 

 can readily believe that it would make a most palat- 

 able dish, for its smell is as fresh and inviting as 

 that of the nicest mushroom ; and not only in smell 

 is it attractive, but also in appearance, the interior 

 being of the purest white imaginable. My specimen 

 was not of the shape of an inverted cone, as described 

 by Badham, but was an imperfect prolate spheroid, 

 like a vegetable marrow, larger at one end than at 

 the other, with a footstalk at the side, not at the 

 end ; and, from the dimensions given by Mr. Sclater, 

 I should judge that his were somewhat similar. — 

 Frank J. Allen, Shepton Mallet. 



Aquilegia. — " R. W." appears to me to be mis- 

 taken when saying that " the latter half of the word 

 is left out altogether," in the derivation of aquilegia 

 from aquila, tor I find the following in Dr. Thorn- 

 ton's "British Flora": — "Aquilegia, from aquila, 

 an eagle, and lego, to collect — a nest of eagles." 

 And he also says : " Or from the talons bent in, as 

 with birds of prey," the idea of resemblance to a 

 bird being evidently the prevailing one.—/. B. 

 Bradley. 



Query about Gold-pish.— Can and will any of 

 your numerous correspondents tell me the reason of 

 the following fact ? Last November I bought some 

 small gold-fish for a tank wherein I have some 

 Valisneria growing. Nothing could have gone on 

 better till about last February, when 1 remarked 

 that their tails and fins were getting ragged, and 

 now they are gradually becoming "small by degrees 

 and beautifully less." The water is above suspicion 

 as to purity, the shingle and sand at bottom per- 

 fectly sweet, but the fish are lethargic and keep to 

 the top of the water. A tench and two minnows in 

 the tank do not suffer from the above ailment. — 

 Windsor Hambrough. 



Birds' Eggs. — As an egg-collector, I wish to 

 make a few observations on the egg which has 

 puzzled "E. B.T." When an egg is found away from 

 a nest, as in the manner described, it is sometimes 

 difficult to correctly name it, as all birds' eggs vary 

 in size, shape, and markings. From the description, 

 1 should imagine the egg to be that of the Song- 

 thrush, Tardus musicus. I have had song-thrushes' 

 eggs exactly the same as that described by " E. B. T." 

 They are slightly smaller than the average of 

 thrushes' eggs, nearly round, and of a "uniform 

 greenish-blue colour," entirely destitute of spots. 

 There were four eggs in the nest, all the same size 

 and colour. If your correspondent will again refer 

 to Morris's "British Birds' Eggs," he will iind this 

 variety of the Thrush's egg described. I have often 

 noticed great variations in the size, shape, and 

 markings of the eggs of the Song-thrush. In my 

 collection I have about twenty thrush eggs from 

 districts widely apart,— Kent, Scotland, and North- 

 east Lancashire. Not two of these eggs are alike 

 in size, shape, or markings. Some are profusely 

 blotched in blaek spots, especially at the thick end ; 

 others are more sparely dotted, while the two re- 



ferred to are entirely devoid of spots. " E. B. T.'s " 

 eggs could scarcely have been those of the American 

 yellow-billed cuckoo, a bird, so far as I am aware, 

 never yet observed in this country. Solitary eggs 

 found apart from the nest speedily become weathered. 

 Some time ago I picked up a starling's egg in a 

 field ; the egg, though perfectly fresh, was a pure 

 dead white, and for some time I was rather puzzled, 

 as to what it really was. This season I found a 

 very large blackbird's egg amongst the grass in a 

 wood. It was a remarkably large specimen ; but 

 how it got there it is difficult to surmise. In this 

 locality, nearly 1,000 feet above the level of the sea, 

 the eggs of the birds which breed here are generally 

 of a much darker colour than those of their kind in 

 low-lying and more sheltered localities. This I 

 attribute to climatic influences and to the kind of 

 food. This season I found a blackbird's nest high 

 up on the moors in a heather bush : the eggs were 

 as nearly black as possible. At first I thought the 

 nest was that of the Ring- ouzel (Turdus torquatus), 

 which breeds plentifully in the neighbourhood ; but 

 on a second visit I saw the hen blackbird go off the 

 nest. If the nest of the ring-ouzel and that of the 

 blackbird were placed side by side, and the eggs 

 removed, it would puzzle an experienced orni- 

 thologist to determine " which was which." From 

 " E. B. T.'s " description I feel certain his egg is 

 that of the common Song-thrush.— 8. II. Kerr, 

 Bacup, Lancashire. 



The Cuckoo's Eggs. — In answer to Mr. J. G. 

 Henderson's query (Science-Gossip for Inly 1st, 

 p. 167), the following may show that the Cuckoo 

 does not hatch her own eggs. Mr. Taylor says 

 ("Half-hours in the Green Lanes") : " We know 

 it builds no nest of its own, but drops its eggs in 

 that of other birds, Nature appearing to have 

 endowed every hen cuckoo with the power of laying 

 eggs similar in colour to those of the species in 

 whose nest she lays, in order that they may not be 

 detected by the foster-parents." Gilbert White 

 says : " M. Herissant, a French anatomist, seems 

 persuaded that he has discovered the reason why 

 cuckoos do not hatch their own eggs. The impedi- 

 ment, he supposes, arises from the internal structure 

 of their parts, which incapacitates them for incuba- 

 tion. According to this gentleman, the crop, or 

 craw, of a cuckoo does not lie before the sternum 

 at the bottom of the neck, as in the Gal'inse, 

 Columbge, &c, but immediately behind it, on and 

 over the bowels, so as to make a large protuberance 

 in the belly.* Induced by this assertion, we pro- 

 cured a cuckoo, and, cutting open the breastbone, 

 and exposing the intestines to sight, found the crop 

 lying as mentioned above. This stomach was large 

 and round, and stuffed hard, like a pincushion, with 

 food, which, upon nice examination, we found to 

 consist of various insects, such as small scarabs, 

 spiders, and dragon-flies, the last of which we have 

 seen cuckoos catching ou the wing as ttiey were 

 just emerging out of the aurelia state. Among this 

 farrago also were to be seen maggots and many 

 seeds, which belonged either to gooseberries, cur- 

 rants, cranberries, or some such fruit ; so that, these 

 birds apparently subsist on insects and fruit ; nor 

 was there the least appearance of bones, feathers, 

 or fur to support the idle notion of their being 

 birds of prev. It must be allowed, as this anato- 

 mist observes, that the crop, placed just upon the 

 bowels, must, especially when full, be in a very 



* " Histoire de PAcaic-mie Royale," 1/5*. 



