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HA RD WICKE' S SCIENCE- G OS SIP 



evening flocks, they formed irregular wave-like chains 

 about half a mile in length, and from ten to fifty yards 

 broad ; one such flock passed every three minutes for 

 one hour. Query — Where did they lodge at night, 

 and how far did they spread towards the east during 

 the daytime ? I remarked the last flocks came in 

 sight about nine o'clock, and settled in the fields 

 about this neighbourhood (Ponsanooth), where they 

 remained during the day, and departed towards the 

 west in the evening without joining the large flocks 

 which came from the east. — S. H. Davey, Ponsanooth , 

 Cornwall. I 



A Brighton Garden. — Your correspondent, G. 

 Davis, in his interesting article on "A Brighton 

 Garden," describes it as being only fifty square yards 

 in extent, which is only ten yards by five, or about 

 the size of a " good-sized " dining-room. In this are 

 several free-growing conifers, firs, and others. I 

 think that perhaps "fifty yards square" might be 

 intended, and yet that would scarcely require so 

 definite a description. With regard to the growth 

 of the various trees, etc., it is interesting to compare 

 it with that of the same plants under the very different 

 conditions 01 this neighbourhood. P. austriaca, P. 

 Cembra, P. excclsa do well, but P. insignis will not 

 stand the winter's cold. Picea Nordmanniana does 

 well for a time, but Picea nobilis does better. P. 

 pinsapo in sheltered situations succeeds well for a 

 time, but is caught by a cold winter. P. lasiscupo 

 comes into leaf too quickly, and the leaders perish. 

 Cupressus macrocarpa is useless, but C. Lawsoniana 

 does well, and also C. gigatitca. The ginkgo succeeds 

 fairly well, but does not grow rapidly. The Euony- 

 mus japonica is not planted here, as it is liable to get 

 killed in winter. It is needless to proceed further, 

 and many of the shrubs I could not report upon, but 

 I thought you could perhaps forward this to your 

 contributor. — Wm. Southall. 



Food, etc., of Macro-Lepidopterous Cater- 

 pillars. — With a view to a monograph of the 

 larvse of British Macro-Lepidoptera, would entomo- 

 logical readers kindly help me with descriptions, 

 food-plants, etc., of caterpillars they have observed? 

 Localities of same would be of great advantage. — F. 

 A. A. Skusc, 36 Campbell Road, Bow, London, E. 



The Brambling. — The brambling (Fringilla 

 montifringilla) has appeared here in some abundance 

 during the past few weeks. It seems to visit this 

 part of Cornwall only in severe winters. A bird- 

 stuffer at Falmouth told me he had several sent him 

 for preserving in 1880-81. I have a male bird in 

 fine plumage in my possession. Bulfinches (P. vul- 

 garis) are more than usually numerous. In October 

 and November, especially the latter month, their 

 chief food was a late kind of blackberry. Dock -seed 

 has also come in for a share of their attention. On a 

 mild morning in December I noticed the golden- 

 crested wren taking flies on the wing after the man- 

 ner of the fly-catcher. Is this usual? — T. J. Porter, 

 Perranarworthal, Cornwall. 



Floral Varieties. — In North Wales I once found 

 a pure white specimen of Geranium Robertianum. 

 With the exception of the flowers being white, it was 

 exactly the same as the ordinary pink Geranium 

 Robertianum. — M. E. Thomson. 



Cuckoos. — The following I quote from Science- 

 Gossip, 1881, page 68 : " Mr. H. B. Sharpe on 

 Cuckoos. — This well known ornithologist, in a lecture 

 recently delivered before the Birmingham Midland 

 Institution, said : ' The ground-cuckoos, unlike the 



tree-cuckoos, built their nests, but they were not very 

 far advanced in the art of nest building.' " I should 

 be glad if some correspondent would kindly tell me 

 in what other respect (besides in the building of their 

 nests) tree-cuckoos differ from ground-cuckoos. I 

 should also like to know if the American cuckoos 

 (which Mr. Sharpe in the same lecture said "did 

 not lay their eggs and hatch them all at once, as 

 some English birds did, but would lay them at 

 intervals, leaving the young birds first hatched to 

 hatch the remainder ") are of the same genus as the 

 English ones. — A. Pittis. 



Hedge-Sparrow's Nest.— On Febuary 14th a 

 hedge-sparrow's nest, containing four eggs, was 

 brought to me from Hendon. Was not this ex- 

 ceptionally early, considering the severe winter? — 

 G. Browne. 



Miscellaneous Queries. — Will any of your 

 readers answer the following? 1. Do pike pair at 

 spawning time or not ? 2. Is a heron conscious of 

 standing on one leg in a profound sleep for hours, 

 with head under wing, other foot hidden in abdominal 

 feathers, or is it merely a mechanical or automatic 

 action ? 3. Does a bee fly in circles to and from 

 its hive ? if so, why ? — Mark Antony. 



Arion ater, var. albolateralis. — It may 

 interest Mr. J. W. Williams (p. 55) to know that I 

 found four specimens of the var. albolateralis of 

 Arion ater at Kirk Braddan, Isle of Man, during the 

 first week of August, 1885. 1 also saw several others 

 at Onchan. One specimen of var. albida, Arion 

 ater, was found at Onchan. — J. Moore, 86 Porchester 

 Street, Birmingham. 



Mimulus luteus. — I found this plant in consider- 

 able quantities last summer growing on the borders 

 of a stream near Enniskerry, co. Wicklow. Has it 

 been found elsewhere in Ireland ? — J. Grierson, Bray, 

 co. Wicklow. 



The Violet Quotation. — The idea touched on 

 in "In Memoriam," xviii., is a very ancient one. 

 The earliest quotation that I can give for it is from 

 Persius — 



" Nunc non « tumulo fortunataque favilla 

 Nascentur violae?" — Sat. i. 39. 



Next comes Shakespeare ("King Lear "), followed 

 by Robert Herrick with his epitaph on his old house- 

 keeper — 



" In this little urn is laid 



Prudence Baldwin, once my maid, 



From whose happy spark here let 



Spring the purple violet." 



Tennyson closes the list. Of these, Herrick un- 

 doubtedly drew his inspiration from Persius, while 

 the ashes of " In Memoriam " would seem to suggest 

 that the Laureate also had in his mind that fortunata 

 favilla of the Roman satirist. As for Shakespeare, I 

 do not myself think that he was indebted to Persius, 

 but rather that he here used the violet chiefly as a 

 symbol, in its shy sweetness and beauty, of so "fair 

 and unpolluted " a soul as that of Cordelia. The 

 origin of the idea may lie hidden away somewhere in 

 ancient folk-lore, or it may simply be that the ashes 

 of the dead have been found to stimulate the growth 

 of this flower. 1 should hardly consider a grave 

 nowadays to be a likely locality for violets to spring 

 up spontaneously in, though I have seen them 

 flourishing luxuriantly in soil which appeared full 

 of cinders and burnt bones ; but it is at least certain 

 that, let the connection of ashes, human or otherwise, 



