HARD WICKE 'S SCIENCE - G OSSIP. 



213 



to the Yellow Dung-fly (S. stercorarius). They 

 appeared to be all of one species. — IF. H. Warner^ 



Standlake. 



Book on Dragon-flies, &c— Can any reader 

 of Science-Gossip inform me of a work on the 

 British LibelluLv (or Dragon-flies) giving plain and 

 satisfactory descriptions of each species ? The price 

 must be moderate. Also of a similar work on the 

 British Ants.— W. H. Warner. 



Bees and Paint.— In answer to Mr. Smith's 



query on this point I must confess my utter inability 



to assign any probable cause for his bees' apparent 



fondness for paint— my sole reason for replying to his 



question being to draw attention to another curious 



penchant of bees, viz., their partiality for smoke. In 



early spring, when engaged in gardening operations, I 



have often noticed the few bees out at that time 



hovering about the weed fires, and endeavouring to 



penetrate into them, even when the thick dense smoke 



has been issuing in volumes from the fires. This 



proceeding has often puzzled me exceedingly. The 



genial warmth given out by the fires is doubtless the 



attraction.— ^F. H. Warner, Standlake. 



Cuckoo (Cttculus canorus. )— Towards the middle 

 of July I caught in the garden (within two miles of 

 the centre of Birmingham) a young cuckoo. It flew i 

 into the greenhouse, and was there caught. I sup- : 

 pose that the bird was enticed by the great quantity 

 of magpie moths with which the kitchen-garden 

 swarmed, so much so that (much as I disapprove of 

 killing creatures uselessly) I destroyed over fifty cater- 

 pillars in twenty minutes, and have caught in a net 

 almost as many perfect insects in the same time. As 

 I have never seen a cuckoo similar to this one before 

 I give below measurements and general description :— 

 Extreme length from tip of bill to end of tail, \i\ 

 inches; length of wing, 9A inches; spread, 20 inches; 

 third primary, 74 inches ; tarsus, f inch ; and tibia, i± 

 inches. The plumage was dark iron-grey, except 

 primaries and secondaries, which were of usual colour 

 barred with " rufus." The barrings of throat as in 

 the adult bird, but with a great tendency to very dark 

 brownish-grey, so as to appear at a little distance to 

 be almost black. Tail, greyish-black, with "rufus" 

 markings on inner webs. Iris, dark hazel-brown ; 

 cere, very light lemon-yellow. Upper mandible of bill, 

 hair-brown ; lower mandible, lighter brown at tip ; 

 suffused with light-yellow gape ; and inside of mouth 

 as usual, orange ; legs and toes, light lemon-yellow, 

 suffused with pink. — G. T. B. 



Dittany.— Your June issue contains a request 

 preferred by Henry F. Bailey, for information re- 

 specting "the name of the species of Dittany." It 

 is an American plant, and is described in Professor 

 Asa Gray's " Manual of Botany." It belongs to the 

 Mint Family (Labiat.e). The Common Dittany is 

 Cumla Mariana. It blooms, with us, from fitly to 

 September. Gray affirms that the Latin name is of 

 "unknown origin." The Mandrake is also an 

 American plant {Podophyllum peltatum). It is a 

 member of the Barberry family (Berberidacea), and 

 is the well-known Podophyllum of the Pharmacopoeia, 

 so valuable a specific in complaints of the liver. We 

 read, Genesis xxx. 14, that " Reuben went in the 

 days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the 

 field." This, I need scarcely add, is an older quota- 

 tion than any that can be culled from the works 

 of "our early poets," referred to by Mr. Bailey.— 

 V. dementi. 



Vanessa Antiopa.— \Y. R. Morse inserts a query 

 respecting the Vanessa Antiopa. This is one of our 



commonest Butterflies. There is no doubt that our 

 specimens have a yellow margin to their wings. At 

 the same time West wood, to whose beautiful work 

 I refer your correspondent, says that the margin of 

 the English specimens is "of a white or -whitish 

 colour"; also that "the pale margin of the wings 

 varies to deepish yellow." I was under the impres- 

 sion that this handsome butterfly had become extinct 

 in England. — V. Clementi. 



COLIAS. — The Colzas mentioned by C. E. B. 

 Hewitt is a very common butterfly in Canada, and 

 may be frequently seen, in larg- numbers, fluttering 

 over ram-puddles on our roads, or settling on their 

 margin. This pretty butterfly is thus described by 

 the American entomologist, T. W. Harris : "Their 

 wings are yellow,' with a black hind border, which 

 in the females is quite broad on the fore wings, and 

 spotted with yellow ; the fringes of the wings, the 

 antenna:, and the shanks are red ; the fore wings 

 have a small narrow black spot on both sides near 

 the middle ; the hind wings have a round orange- 

 coloured spot in the middle of the upper side, which 

 on the under side is replaced by a large and a small 

 silvery spot close together, and surrounded by a rust- 

 coloured ring."— V. dementi, Ontario, Canada. 



Lapwings ( Vanellus cristatus). — During the snow- 

 , storm in the end of March and beginning of April, 

 the Lapwings, who had returned to their breeding- 

 grounds, were so pressed with hunger, that some 

 entered the very houses in search of food. After the 

 snow had disappeared, the remains of hundreds who 

 had perished were to be seen. It appears they will 

 rather die of starvation than leave their favourite 

 haunts in the breeding season. — W. S. Fyvie. 



Intelligence of a Magpie. — Some years ago, 

 when residing at Stowmarket, I was much struck 

 with the intelligence of a Magpie belonging to my 

 next-door neighbour. In a very short time, and 

 without any effort to teach it on the part of any one, 

 it learnt the names of several members of my family, 

 and never misapplied them. This proves that birds, 

 in acquiring human language, connect the object and 

 the word, and do not use the latter at random. The 

 Magpie in question was evil-disposed, and loved to 

 annoy girls by pecking their feet; but on the approach 

 of a man or a boy it scuffled away, uttering most 

 unparliamentary phrases. Its leg having been acci- 

 dentally broken, it repudiated all surgical aid. It 

 used to sit on the sound foot and hold up the maimed 

 limb, looking at it disconsolately, and pecking at the 



bandages with continual ejaculations of "D it !" 



and died at last worn to a skeleton. — J. W. Slater. 



Gigantic Mullein. — When botanizing on the 

 15th of August last in Spittlesea Wood, near the 

 place I was gratified by finding an extraordinary 

 specimen of the Great Mullein ( Verbaseum thapsus) K 

 It towered up to the height of eight feet and a half, 

 lifting its spike of yellow blossoms above the sur- 

 rounding undergrowth, which had been cut down 

 about three years ago. The total length of the 

 raceme was three feet six inches, and at the base of 

 it were two small lateral flower spikes, the one about 

 six and the other about eight inches in length. Not 

 far from the spot other specimens were growing, 

 the height of which was five and a half feet, but 

 this appeared quite diminutive by the side of its 

 gigantic fellow. This excessive growth may be 

 accounted for by the humidity of the season and the 

 sheltered position in which it grew. The soil is 

 light gravel, over chalk, with flint.— J. Sau7iders,_ 

 Luton. 



