4 6 



HARD WICKE 'S S CIENCE - G O SSIP. 



forage. For some time the lapwings paid little 

 attention to the crows, but ultimately the female 

 commenced to hatch her eggs, and then a real warfare 

 began with the male. No sooner did the crows, 

 generally two or three hundred, alight in the field 

 where the female was sitting, than the male com- 

 menced a most determined attack on them. It darted 

 towards them with the rapidity and vigour of a hawk, 

 but evidently with the sole intention of banishing 

 th cm from the field, as I could never notice that it 

 came actually in contact with them, but always so 

 near as to render them uncomfortable. Those who 

 have observed a lapwing under these conditions 

 will be aware of the peculiarly loud noise that it has 

 the power of producing with its wings, and this, no 

 doubt, has its effect upon the birds that approach its 

 domain. This was the case in the present instance. 

 Not a moment's quietude was allowed the crows until 

 the whole colony was banished from the field, and they 

 were obliged to betake themselves to the neighbouring 

 grounds, where they could follow their occupation in 

 peace. Not more than a few minutes elapsed until 

 the lapwing had cleared the field of the intruders. 

 T witnessed cases of this kind repeatedly, and always 

 with the same effect. This faithful sentinel of its 

 mate would allow no bird whatever to enter this field 

 without attempting to banish it. These attacks of 

 the lapwing were not confined to birds alone, but also 

 to human beings. If any person happened to pass 

 through this field, and more especially when near the 

 nest of the female, the male immediately darted past 

 him on all sides, and so contiguous that it might 

 almost be touched, making the peculiarly loud noise 

 with its wings. Thus it continued without inter- 

 mission until the intruder had left the field. On one 

 occasion I was greatly amused with a crow that it 

 took prisoner. The crow alighted in the field near a 

 tree, but the moment it did so the lapwing commenced 

 its usual attack by darting close past it (on no occa- 

 sion did I see it come fairly in contact with the 

 intruder), and the crow to avoid it took refuge in the 

 tree. The lapwing then soared away for a short 

 distance, but never out of sight of the crow, and the 

 latter, no doubt thinking that its enemy had dis- 

 appeared, left the tree and again began to forage in 

 the field. But this was only momentary. The lap- 

 wing was quite aware of the fact, and down again it 

 pounced on the crow, which, as before, took shelter 

 in the tree. This state of things continued more than 

 a dozen times, until at last the crow, finding that 

 neither peace nor profit could be obtained there, con- 

 trived to steal from the tree, and took its departure to 

 some other locality, where it might forage in peace 

 and quietness. The courageous and faithful guardian, 

 however, at last came to an untimely end. I did not 

 witness this myself, but was told by a game-watcher 

 who did, and therefore cannot say whether the hawk 

 which killed it did so without provocation, or that the 

 latter had been annoyed by the usual attack of the 

 lapwing to banish it from the field. However, the 

 lapwing was struck to the ground by the hawk, and 

 the game- watcher, thinking that he might be able to 

 save its life, went to its rescue with all speed, but on 

 reaching it found that the hawk had torn its head off. 

 Since that time I have never seen the female, nor any 

 ofitsyoung — if it succeeded in hatching them, — and the 

 crows may now be seen daily foraging in the field 

 without interruption. — Dipton Burn. 



The Betularia and its Varieties. — In the 

 month of June, 1874, I was proceeding on the out- 

 side of an omnibus from Middleton to Manchester 

 in company with a brother entomologist, when I 

 thought I observed a large specimen of the Betularia 



in a plantation in the neighbourhood of Heaton 

 Park, on the left-hand side of the high road. The 

 driver of the 'bus, noting my anxiety to capture the 

 specimen, very kindly promised to proceed slowly for 

 a short distance, so as to give me an opportunity of 

 seeing whether my impressions were right or not with 

 regard to what I had seen. I soon reached the plan- 

 tation, near the entrance to which, to my great joy and 

 surprise, I found a large female Betularia of the buff 

 variety on a tree, in conjunction with a black male. 

 I picked them off the tree and returned to the 'bus, 

 several of the passengers being astonished when I 

 told them the value of my prize. Not being prepared 

 with a box at the time, I allowed my captures to 

 creep on my clothes, but after we had gone some 

 distance I set the black one free, to the evident sur- 

 prise of the passengers, who seemed to think that the 

 more valuable of the two. However, on arriving at 

 Cheetham Hill, my entomological friend procured a 

 large-sized pill-box, and into this I placed the buft 

 specimen. We proceeded to Belle-Vue Gardens, to 

 spend the afternoon, though I will confess that the 

 pleasure I experienced there received additional zest 

 from the discovery and capture I had made during 

 the afternoon. On arriving home I was sorry to find 

 the specimen in a somewhat sorry condition, the box 

 in which I had confined it having been rather too 

 small. Fortunately I succeeded in restoring it, and 

 I afterwards reared about 120 specimens, but, 

 singular to say, and to my great disappointment, 

 the buff variety did not make its appearance. At 

 this time a friend of mine had some of the black 

 variety, and he was kind enough to give me a few ; so 

 I crossed them, but with the same result. Still I 

 had faith that they must have some of their parent's 

 buff qualities in them, and I made another attempt 

 to breed them. The result, I am glad to say, was 

 very gratifying indeed. On the 4th of December last 

 I placed about fifty of the pupa? in a box ; for, being 

 very eager to see the buff variety come forth, I 

 resolved to try what artificial means would do. 

 Impelled by curiosity, I, on the 4th of January this 

 year, took a peep into the box, when, to my great 

 delight, I found that one of the buff variety had 

 emerged from the pupa. I followed up my success, 

 and have succeeded in obtaining about one buff one 

 out of twenty of the whole brood, some of them being 

 all buff, and others very variable, both in their colour 

 and markings. The foregoing information, therefore, 

 makes me feel confident of having established two 

 distinct varieties of Betularia from a domestic point 

 of view, and possibly what I have stated may be of 

 value to entomology, and to those who love the 

 science. — Thomas Lomas. 



A Fight with an Eagle. — The Dagbladet, a 



Danish newspaper, for July 10th, 1S76, gives the 

 following account of a rare incident which occurred 

 on the previous Wednesday evening upon Rovling 

 Heath, in the district of Aalborg, Jutland. Two 

 girls, eight and twelve years of age, having been sent 

 by their parents to fetch home the cows from the 

 heath, were attacked, while returning, by a very 

 large eagle, which made several attempts to swoop 

 down, but was deterred by the elder girl swinging a 

 tethering mallet over her bead till she could procure 

 some stones ; these she hurled against her powerful 

 antagonist, and was at last so fortunate as to strike it 

 with such effect that it fell dead. It measured from 

 tip to tip of its extended wings, six feet eight inches 

 (3} alen), and weighed about ten pounds (9 pund). 

 Its largest claws were from an inch and a half to two 

 inches long ; its colour was intermingled grey and 

 white. — J. Wager. 



