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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



of the aviary. Not only does he (the canary) re- 

 produce the songs, but also the call-notes ; which are 

 intersperse! with snatches of his own song. Thus 

 he mostly begin : with the Ar.ican green-finch's song, 

 gradually merging into his own liquid notes ; then 

 comes the "pink, pink, pink," of the chaffinch, 

 followed by the song of the same ; then the song and 

 harsh call-notes of the siskin are introduced, all one 

 after the other in quick succession, and invariably 

 ending with the final notes of the Virginian nightin- 

 gale's song. I was very nearly disposing of him to 

 the lady who bought my other birds ; but I need 

 scarcely say how pleased I am now that she declined 

 to have him. He is really the most wonderful 

 mimic I ever heard, and those who have heard him 

 too say the same— not of very prepossessing appear- 

 ance, it is true, but nevertheless a wonderful little 

 fellow ; bold and fearless, too, in a remarkable 

 degree, and a great pet. When I clean the aviary, 

 he will alight on the back of the knife with which I 

 scrape the perches and branches ; he will also jump 

 on to the seed-tin before I can fix it in its place, and 

 chirps out at me in quite an impudent manner. 

 Indeed, from his general air of superintendence, we 

 call him the "Foreman." — William Finch, Jan., 

 Nottingham. 



The Whinchat. — The following record may be of 

 interest. It is from Mr. W. P. Ellis, of Enfield 

 Chase. I give his own words : " The whinchat, a 

 little bird very plentiful with us during the breeding 

 season, occupies a piece of ground not more than 

 one mile square. I dare say on it a hundred pairs 

 breed annually. These birds seem very successful in 

 rearing their young ones, and it is not infrequent 

 that they bring up a whole batch from six or seven 

 eggs. About the commencement of September all 

 the chats in the neighbourhood congregate into one 

 portion of the district, and all of a sudden, and 

 apparently at night, they depart, but leaving behind 

 them about two pairs of birds. These two pairs 

 remain quite contented during the whole of the 

 winter until about April 3rd, when I have repeatedly 

 missed them, and we see no more winchats until 

 about April 20th, when they return in the usual 

 abundance to nest with us." He then remarks : 

 " Now what seems strange to me is that these two 

 pairs of birds are always (for I have noticed the 

 fact for several years) left behind, and the main 

 body migrate. It cannot be the approaching severe 

 weather, for surely if some can bear it the others can." 

 This is what is the more interesting ; and, as migra- 

 tion as yet is veiled in obscurity, we can only 

 conjecture, if that be any good. I wonder if these 

 two pairs of birds are left behind as sentinels, and 

 whether, as spring arrives, they leave to join their 

 fellows in the movement inwards, and to acquaint 

 them of their old nesting-place, if favourable to their 

 return or otherwise. You see they absent themselves 

 for a fortnight previous to the arrival of the main 

 body.— J. W. Williams, D.Sc. 



Ancient Definitions. — I possess an old book 

 " The Compleat Housewife," by one E. Smith, 

 published in 1742, in which are given directions for 

 carving various birds and fish. '1 hus, for instance, a 

 barbel is to be " tusked," and a crane is to be 

 " displayed." But what is a "brew," which is to be 

 " untached ; " and what is a " cheven " which is to 

 be "finned;" and ' Egript," which has to be 

 "broken"? To give a few more as they stand in 

 the list, as a curiosity for your readers : Chicken, to 

 frush ; coney, to unlace ; crab, to tame ; eel, to 

 transon ; hen, to spoil ; peacock, to disfigure ; 

 pheasant, to allay ; pike, to splat ; quail, to wring ; 



sturgeon, to tranch ; trout, to culpon.- 

 Hambroneh. 



■ Windsor 



An Eagle's Revenge. — The following anecdote 

 illustrates the reasoning power of the goiden eagle, 

 Aqaila chryscctos, Linn., and is worth preserving. My 

 informant is my father, the Rev. Canon Charles Lett, 

 B.A., T.C.D., who witnessed the occurrence in the 

 year 1828, and he has often related it to me. A Mr. 

 John Palmer, who resided at Kingston Terrace, in 

 the city of Waterford, had a tame eagle which had 

 been procured when young from the Comeragh 

 Mountains, co. Waterford, Ireland, where these birds, 

 till quite recently, yearly nested (see Thompson's. 

 "Natural History of Ireland," vol. i. p. 9.) This 

 particular bird was not confined or restrained in any 

 way, but had the run of the yard and garden, and was 

 quite tame. The owner on one occasion, to amuse 

 some of his friends who had called upon him, placed 

 the house-cat close to the eagle, which attempted to 

 seize it, but retreated in alarm on the cat spitting at 

 it. A chicken was next brought, and instantly 

 pounced upon. The owner, however, released it, 

 whereupon the eagle hopped clumsily after it, and in, 

 vain tried to overtake it. When it perceived its 

 failure, it turned towards Mr. Palmer, and, to his 

 alarm, seized his legs in its talons, and began to 

 attack him with its powerful beak, evidently in 

 revenge for being deprived of its prey. As the 

 incident took place in the garden, a cabbage stalk, 

 like those of which walking sticks are made in Jersey, 

 was quickly procured, and the angry and disappointed 

 eagle beaten off.—LL. W. Lett, M.A. 



Mimulus luteus. — I have seen this plant growing 

 freely on the banks of the Tay in Fifeshire, N.B. 

 An Aberdeen friend of mine tells me he has fre- 

 quently seen this plant growing in Aberdeenshire ; in 

 fact, it is, he says, a common one there. — L. Barron. 



"Mimulus luteus" has been observed in the 

 co. Wicklow for many years, and also in many other 

 parts of Ireland : see " Cybele Hibernica." — 6". A. B., 

 Glendun Lodge. 



Poisonous effects of the Yew. — The follow- 

 ing incidents may interest some of your readers, as 

 illustrating the poisonous effects of the yew-tree on 

 animals. My pet donkey was one day last summer 

 led from the orchard to the lawn, which was bounded 

 on one side by a fine old yew-tree leaning against 

 the wall. Jenny was tethered by a long rope to 

 a stake in the middle of the lawn just before the 

 gardener went to his dinner, and we left her browsing 

 on the grass when we adjourned to lunch. After 

 luncheon I went up to the open window, when one of 

 the children who were with me exclaimed : "Jenny 

 is eating the yew." He ran at full speed and dragged 

 the little bit of yew branch which Jenny was, 

 munching out of her mouth, but not before she had 

 bitten off and swallowed some of it. I followed as 

 soon as I had shut up my watch, which I happened to 

 be setting at the moment. We at once led Jenny 

 away from the yew, and shortened her rope. I then 

 returned to the house, feeling glad that I had been 

 (as I hoped) in time to prevent any ill effects, since 

 there was no evidence of broken twigs or scattered 

 leaves to show that she had been long at the yew- 

 tree. I left one of the children with the donkey ; but 

 before I could reach the house I heard a lamentable 

 cry, " The little donkey is ill ; " and, turning back, I 

 saw the poor beast in the act of falling on her side. 

 We tried to raise her, and even fetched a bottle of 

 ammonia to hold to her nostrils, as I had a vague 

 recollection of having read of a cure from poison by 



