173 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



in the economy of the creature these delicate mark- 

 ings on an external covering of the egg are intended 

 to serve ? That it is not for purely ornamental pur- 

 poses we may be quite sure. I believe the true 

 reason must be sought in the necessity of the enclosed 

 germ to obtain air, and possibly moisture. If obser- 

 vations were continued under still higher powers, 

 possibly the dots would be found to be small aper- 

 tures through which these necessaries are obtainable. 

 The development of the grub in the egg would be a 

 useful study, but I fear my ability is unequal to the 

 task. 



After the deposition of the eggs, the mission of life 

 being fulfilled, the fly soon dies, and may be taken 

 off neighbouring plants as though unwilling to quit 

 the neighbourhood of the great object of its creation. 

 A few words as to getting rid of this pest may not 

 be out of place. In the "Garden" newspaper of 

 this week, 16th of June, 1883, I came across the 

 following, and I can only say I wish it had been 

 published sooner : 



" The onion-fly is a great pest in many places ; 

 some have found by keeping the roots earthed-up 

 that the flies cannot get at them to lay their eggs ; 

 it is a very sure preventive. In thinning the crop 

 care should be taken to disturb the ground as little 

 as possible ; for the same reason, sowing sand which 

 has been soaked in petroleum over the beds, or water- 

 ing them with one pint of petroleum in two gallons 

 of water has been useful in keeping away the flies. 

 When an onion is infested there is nothing to be 

 done but to remove it carefully and burn it ; this is 

 best done by digging up with a trowel, for if any of 

 the grubs are left in the ground, or are allowed to 

 drop out, they will probably find their way to other 

 roots. If this method be carried out, the next brood 

 of flies will be very much decreased in numbers." 



I had tried soot, and diligently kept the surface of 

 the ground stirred, and thus I suppose have assisted 

 this creature to lay the foundations of a future crop 

 of the pest in my garden. 



The skin of the grub, as it approaches its full 

 growth, becomes appreciably harder, and ultimately 

 is changed into a chitinous condition. When the pupa 

 form is complete, it measures one quarter of an inch 

 in length, and is just one-third of this in width at 

 the widest part. 



On opening one of the pupoe, a quantity of white 

 fatty matter escapes ; the insect may then be extracted 

 entire. The jaws, now being useless, are cast off in 

 the pupa case ; the pedunculated spiracles are also 

 discarded. 



Opening the now semi-metamorphosed creature, 

 we again meet with the ova in a stage slightly 

 advanced from that in the grub form ; they have 

 grown to "007, are more distinctly granular in 

 structure, more easily separated, and are quite 

 spherical in form. 



I have observed with satisfaction that something 



prevents all the grubs from changing into the pupa 

 condition. I have transplanted infected plants into 

 pots, and thus compared the changes with those in 

 the open ground, and I think I may say only about 

 one-fifth thus change. The cause may be primarily 

 this : the stock of food in the onion attacked being 

 exhausted, and the creature, being devoid of legs, 

 becomes exhausted and dies before it can wriggle to 

 another plant. Possibly they have an enemy of which 

 I am not as yet cognisant. 



W. H. Harris. 

 Card i J: 



DEMOISELLE CRANE. GRUS VIRGO, 

 {ANTHROPOIDES VIRGO).* 



AT the request of the present editor of the 

 new edition of Yarrell, I made some inquiries 

 as to the occurrence of this bird near Wincanton in 

 this county, Somerset, a notice of which appeared 

 in Science-Gossip for 1876, p. 66, and was copied 

 from there into the "Zoologist" for the same 

 year, p. 4928. I received from Mr. Bidgood, the 

 Curator of our Museum, who at my request made 

 a good many inquiries into the matter, the two 

 following letters, which seem to show beyond doubt 

 that the record cannot be considered trustworthy. 

 One letter from Mr. Galpin of Harwood, near 

 Wincanton, says, "The supposed Numidian Crane 

 was found by Mr. Henry Dyke, son of the late 

 Mr. John Dyke of Myland. He described it to 

 Mr. Wm. Herridge, now of Clinger Farm, Archling- 

 ton, who consulted ' Cassell's Natural History,' 

 and sent the note to Science-Gossip. I have 

 written to Mr. Dyke asking if the bird was preserved, 

 who saw it besides, and other particulars, and here- 

 with enclose his reply. The persons whom he names 

 as having inspected it, are both dead." Mr. Dyke's 

 letter was as follows : "In reply to your letter 

 respecting the bird, I do not remember very much 

 about it ; we kept it several days, and then it was 

 thrown away. Father and Mr. Jukes both said they 

 had never seen such a bird before. It was some kind 

 of a heron, but had such a very long tuft on its 

 breast. I cannot say more about it as I do not 

 remember." I think it worth while to send you this- 

 note on the subject, as the record of the occurrence 

 of the demoiselle crane near Wincanton still remains 

 in Science-Gossip without any contradiction or 

 explanation, and might lead to difficulties in the 

 future, more especially as it has been perpetuated in 

 the " List of British Birds," published by the ' Ibis ' 

 Committee, and also in the last number of the new 

 Yarrell, though in neither of these publications has 

 Grus virgc been allowed a place as properly belong- 

 ing to the British list. I think now, however, that 



* Science-Gossip, 1876, p. 66. 



