HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



23 



to the ground, and became a prey to the cat. One 

 might have thought that the domestic instinct which 

 leads the swallow to cater for its young, would have 

 proved stronger than the tribal instinct of migration, 

 but on reflection one sees that for the old birds to 

 remain would involve the destruction of both old and 

 young, and therefore the instinct to do so would be 

 sure in time to be dominated by the instinct of migra- 

 tion, which, though it leads to the death of the 

 young birds, preserves the lives of the parents. May 

 not the swallows which White of Selborne saw in 

 November have been deserted young ones just old 

 enough to cater for themselves ? — R. S. Pattrick, 

 Sellinge Vicarage, Hythe. 



Late Swallows. — It may interest some of your 

 readers to know that some of the swallow tribe are 

 still here, in Nottingham, having seen them twice a 

 day since November 1st ; the weather since then had 

 been mostly wet and mild, but one night there was a 

 very sharp frost, the roads in the morning being one 

 sheet of ice, still the birds were flying about as early 

 as 8 A.M. Twice I have seen a couple of sand- 

 martins, known by their small size, lighter colour, 

 and comparatively square tail ; the others were the 

 chimney swallows, mostly young birds, but a few 

 were old ones, distinguished by their darker colour 

 and their longer outer tail-feathers ; they were here 

 this morning, and seemed as vigorous as if it was the 

 height of summer. — L. Lee, Naturalist, Nottingham. 



Split Feathers. — Some time back you may 

 remember I sent you up a curious pigeon's feather 

 split and forming two feathers. In my poultry-yard 

 to-day I picked up the enclosed cock's feather, which 

 almost beats the pigeon's as a curiosity — as you will 

 see on examination. I thought you would like to see 

 it. — Windsor Hambrough. 



The Knot. — Mr. Heathcote's note on the knot 

 {Tringa canutus not cornutus) in summer plumage, 

 shot during the seeond week in August, near Preston, 

 is interesting as a matter of migration, as well as of 

 the seasonable change of plumage. I have in my 

 own collection a knot in full summer plumage, shot 

 on May 20th, 1866, but that a specimen in this state 

 should have been killed in this country in the autumn 

 is, as I have said, interesting, for the simple reason 

 that it has been stated that the young birds are the 

 first to return southwards in the autumn from their 

 breeding quarters without the guiding of their parents, 

 which are said to remain in their northern breeding 

 haunts until they have moulted, after which they 

 would of course come to us in their winter dress. 

 The breeding-place of the knot had never been satis- 

 factorily determined until the Arctic expedition of 

 the Alert and Discovery in 1875-6, and then no eggs 

 were found ; indeed, I believe they are still unknown 

 to science. Mr. Hart, the naturalist on board the 

 Discovery, records the 31st of May as the date when 

 knots were first seen in the Arctic regions, and their 

 young newly hatched on the nth and 12th of July. 

 The question, however, which I wish to raise is, Do 

 the young birds migrate southwards from their breed- 

 ing haunts without an escort of some few old birds ? 

 The fact of a female in summer plumage having been 

 taken in this country in the second week in August 

 would appear rather as evidence against this theory, 

 and it would seem that some few adults, perhaps 

 those most backward in moulting, do accompany the 

 young and moult after their arrival in this country or 

 still farther south. This granted, it would appear 

 not to be a matter of pure and simple instinct on the 

 part of the young in finding their own way on a long 

 journey which they had never travelled before. It is 



just possible that the specimen mentioned by Mr. 

 Heathcote had not gone out of this country, and had 

 not nested ; but the fact of its being in summer or 

 breeding plumage would lead to an opposite opinion. 

 I should be glad to see the opinions of others on this 

 subject expressed in Science-Gossip. — William 

 Jeffery, Ratham, Chichester. 



Absence of the Operculum. — Mr. Tomlin's 

 remarks on the T. lineatus at Herm are very interest- 

 ing. Dr. Jeffreys (B. C. vol. iv.) mentions a specimen 

 of Fhsus gracilis which had no operculum, and, as is 

 well known, the operculum of the common whelk is 

 not unfrequently double or treble. — T. D. A. Cockerell. 



The Shard-borne Beetle. — Can any reader 

 tell me the name of the above beetle ? Shakespeare 

 mentions it in "Macbeth," and Collins in his beautiful 

 " Ode to Evening." 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



To Correspondents and Exchangers. — As we now 

 publish Science-Gossip earlier than formerly, we cannot un- 

 dertake to insert in the following number any communications 

 which reach us later than the 8th of the previous month. 



To Anonymous Querists. — We must adhere to our rule of 

 not noticing queries which do not bear the writers' names. 



To Dealers and others. — We are always glad to treat 

 dealers in natural history objects on the same fair and general 

 ground as amateurs, in so far as the "exchanges" offered are fair 

 exchanges. But it is evident that, when their offers are simply 

 disguised advertisements, for the purpose of evading the cost of 

 advertising, an advantage is taken of our gratuitous insertion of 

 " exchanges " which cannot be tolerated. 



We request that all exchanges may be signed with name (or 

 initials) and full address at the end. 



G. A. Widdows. — No exchange was enclosed in your en- 

 velope. 



D. Rice. — You will find an account of the migration of our 

 British Birds in Morris' " Ornithology." Also in Tristram's 

 " Sahara," and Seebohm's "Siberia in Europe." 



P. Q. Z. — The microscopic fungus on your thistle is the sweet 

 smelling rust ( Trichobasis suaveolens). See Cooke's "Micro- 

 scopic Fungi," p. 99. 



R. C. Chaytor. — You may reflect objects seen under the 

 microscope by means of the camera lucida and sketch them. 

 See articles on the Microscopic and Fine Art, &c, in vol. of 

 Science-Gossip for 1882, where you will find full details of 

 construction. 



F. M. — It is not at all uncommon to find blackberry blossoms 

 out in the middle of November, particularly if the weather has 

 been fine. 



Krani. — You will find in Science-Gossip for 1868, p. 141 

 et seq., an account of the pink and yellow laburnum. Tne 

 clusters of yellow flowers are a reversion of the species grafted 

 on the pink kind to their original colour. The occurrence is not 

 uncommon. 



John Fraser. — Get Rutley's "Study of Rocks," price 

 4^. 6d., published by Longmans. You will there find full par- 

 ticulars for cutting, slicing, and polishing rock sections. 



A. C. R. H. — We are not aware of any classes in existence 

 as yet, for teaching geology by correspondence. 



F. J. R. — Hewitson's " British Birds' Eggs" contains a 

 beautifully coloured drawing of the eggs of each species. But 

 the work is scarce and always fetches a high price. But it is 

 the best work on the subject. 



A. Verinder. — Ammonites are found both in the upper 

 chalk and the flint, but very rarely in the latter. Nodules of 

 iron pyrites, having a radiated structure, are much commoner. 

 They are often found weathered out of the chalk, and mistaken 

 for meteorites. The nodules of iron pyrites decompose into 

 oxide of iron or red rust. 



B. Hobson. — The Hon. Sec. of the Botanical Exchange 

 Club is Mr. Charles Baily, F.L.S., Ashfield, College^ Road, 

 Whalley Range, Manchester. Concerning the latest edition of 

 the " London Catalogue " apply to Messrs. W. H. Allen & Co., 

 Publishers, Waterloo Place. 



A. G. W. — Will you kindly forward us (privately) the names 

 and addresses of the persons who have used our Exchange 

 columns for the purpose of obtaining specimens fraudulently ? 

 We have a " Black List," and shall feel obliged by any of our 

 readers reporting to us evident frauds. , , 



