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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



as regularly and tenderly as the poor little bird did 

 its monstrous nursling, as already mentioned in 

 vol. i. p. 207.— H. J. Taylor. 



Cuckoo's Eggs.— As some of your correspond- 

 ents do not appear to me quite to understand the 

 theory with regard to the coloration of the eggs of 

 the Cuckoo advanced by Dr. Baldamus, but seem 

 under the impression that this learned ornithologist 

 believed the hen-cuckoo possessed the power of 

 laying eggs of any colour at pleasure, or at least of 

 influencing their colour, will you allow me to state 

 in his own words, as nearly as they can be rendered 

 into English, what his supposed discovery really 

 amounts to ? His theory is really a very beautiful 

 one, and remarkable for its bearing upon the prin- 

 ciple of natural selection, as pointed out by Profes- 

 sor Newton. So far from asserting that the female 

 cuckoo "can voluntarily influence the colour of her 

 eggs," he expressly rejects the theory, and gives 

 his reasons for so doing, adding by way of summary, 

 " Thus all experience hitherto made declares for the 

 assertion that every hen-cuclcoo lays only eggs of one 

 colouring, and consequently (as a general rule) lays 

 only in the nest of one species" — a species to the 

 eggs of which her own have a resemblance. Again, 

 in the summary at the conclusion of his paper, he 

 repeats this opinion even more strongly in the fol- 

 lowing words :— " Every hen-cuckoo lays eggs only 

 of a fixed colour, corresponding (as a general rule) 

 with the eggs of that warbler in whose nest she lays 

 them, and she only lays in other nests when, at the 

 time lor laying, one of the species of her own pecu- 

 liar type, as we may say, is not ready." I quote 

 from the Rev. A. C. Smith's translation of Dr. Bal- 

 damus's paper in the Zoologist for April, 1868. In 

 these two brief sentences is embodied the pith of 

 this theory, which is largely supported by evidence 

 and the production of an immense series of eggs; 

 there is certainly nothing to lead us to the strange 

 idea that the coloration of the egg of the Cuckoo is 

 a voluntary act on the part of the parent bird, but 

 quite the contrary. I confess my experience does 

 not tend to confirm the law which Dr. Baldamus 

 fancies he has discovered ; but it has been seriously 

 entertained by some of the best ornithologists of 

 the day, and emanating from so high an authority 

 as Baldamus, it commands our respectful considera- 

 tion until we can cither disprove or confirm it. Dr. 

 Baldamus has been very much misrepresented by 

 some English naturalists, which doubtless arises 

 from their not having received their information 

 (irst hand, the " Naumannia," the German periodi- 

 cal in which he first made his theory known, being 

 very little known in this country. This has led to 

 criticisms altogether irrelevant to the subject; he 

 has been first misrepresented, and then it has been 

 sought to disprove the misrepresentations.— Thos. 

 Southwell, Norwich. 



Midges and Thunder-flies.— Several small 

 species of Tipulida, especially the common 

 Chironomus, greatly resembling gnats, and fre- 

 quenting marshy places; also, the Psychoda, the 

 short, broad- winged litile fellow found on our 

 windows the year through, are known as Midges. 

 Eor want of precision in its use, the term Midge has 

 but little value. " C. H." asks, are they the same 

 as Thunder-flies? Thunder-flies are a species of 

 Tkysanoptera, or fringe-wings, better known as 

 Thrips; very plentiful during the summer; and, 

 though minute in size, the effect of their bite is very 

 irritating. I believe much of the annoyance attri- 

 buted to harvest bugs, Acarus autumnalis, is really 



occasioned by this little pest. They are known in 

 Kent as " Nidgets" or " Nidges," and I fancy the 

 similarity in name has misled "C. H."— H. E. 

 Freeman. 



The Sea Serpent. — I herewith enclose an ex- 

 tract from a pleasantly written book called "The 

 West Coast of Africa," by Commander Hugh 

 McN. Dyer, R..N., which I think will be interesting 

 to the readers of Science-Gossip, as throwing some 

 light upon that somewhat mythical personage " The 

 Great Sea Serpent." The author also was shown by 

 Consul Livingstone, at Old Calabar, a great natural 

 curiosity in the shape of fishes with eyelids. They 

 were, he says, about four inches long, of a light 

 brown colour, and capable of giving a palpable 

 electric shock. These were alive and swimming 

 about in a basin. I should be glad if any one would 

 kindly furnish further particulars, with drawings, if 

 possible, of this peculiar fish.—/. F. Cranswick. 



The Mythical Sea-Serpent ?— Captain the 

 Hon. M.H. Nelson, H.M.S. Druid, and Com- 

 mander Prescott Stephens, H.M.S. Bittern, were 

 about to leave the Torch on the evening of the 2Cvh 

 July, 1872, then at anchor off Cape Coast, to return 

 to the Druid, which was off Elmina, when our atten- 

 tion was drawn to a great commotion in the water, 

 at about half a mile from the ship, and presently a 

 large eel-shaped fish, with dark back and white 

 belly, put its head, or what appeared to be its head, 

 about twenty or thirty feet into the air, and came 

 down with a great thwack on the water twice, when 

 a whale of great size, bottle-nose, length not less 

 than sixty feet, sprang into the air, coming down 

 with a splash that may be imagined. This was re- 

 peated two or three times, the whale ultimately 

 o-oing away to sea. I was told afterwards, the 

 other fish was a "thresher." It might have been 

 its tail and not its head we saw, for its movements 

 were too rapid and the splashing of the water too 

 great to see distinctly. It appeared to us, in size 

 round, about twice that of a man's body. The 

 depth of water in which this took place was about 

 ten fathoms. Lieutenant Jeffreys and the officers 

 of the Torch all witnessed, and all were equally 

 surprised at the incident. I saw the same thing 

 again a few days afterwards near Bootry, also in 

 shoal water, but much less of the thresher appeared 

 above water, and the whale's jump was much higher 

 and more frequent. I have seen whales jumping in 

 this way, also off the river Congo.— "The West 

 Coast of Africa," pp. 71 and 72. By Commander 

 Hugh McN. Dyer, B.N., H.M.S. Torch. 



Hawfinch.— Although this handsome finch is 

 not indigenous to these islands, yet for the past 

 two or three winters it has been met with, gene- 

 rally in pairs only, never in flocks ; and, in company 

 with the Pied Pinch and Yellow-hammer, feeding on 

 our barn floors in Cheshire. I saw one kept as a 

 curiosity in a cage in a labourer's cottage for a few 

 weeks ; it eventually pined away and. died. I believe 

 it must have been a mistake to record it as having 

 bred in this country.— B. 



Strange Birds. — Can any_ of your corre- 

 spondents give me any information about a pair of 

 birds which I have just bought, of which I do not 

 know the names ? Tlie cock is wholly black, almost 

 blue in sunlight, with bright red feet, and beak 

 delicately tinged with pink. The hen is at present 

 moulting, her colour is dappled brown and black. 

 The man from whom they were bought called them 

 "Stale" birds, and said they came from South 



