7° 



HA R D J VI CKE 'S S CI EN CE-GO SSI P. 



However, as no such instance has come under my 

 own observation, I decline making further remarks 

 ■on such instance. The blackbird pairing with the 

 song-thrush, if correct, is no doubt a very exceptional 

 occurrence, and can only be explained as a mon- 

 strosity, which this, and all similar instances, un- 

 doubtedly are, and which, however unexplainable, 

 are repeatedly found in various birds and animals. 

 I will also mention the fact, that the pairing of 

 annual birds is not so closely linked with the vernal 

 year as is currently supposed. The hedge-sparrow, 

 through what I have observed, invariably pairs late 

 in December. A few weeks prior to that date the 

 birds are solitary; they gradually become more social, 

 and very garrulous ; and now, at the time of writing 

 this, all specimens seen are invariably in pairs. I 

 think Mr. Parsons somewhat mistakes my object in 

 saying, "the only way is by polygamy." I do not 

 for a moment entertain the idea that all birds could 

 multiply quickly by practising it, but only those 

 which I have stated (first section of gallinaceous 

 birds), and for what that gentleman brought forward 

 the human race as examples, bearing on the present 

 subject, I am at a loss to imagine. As to polygamy 

 occurring ill species under domestication, I ask why 

 the domestic swan (C. olor) remains in a strictly 

 monogamous state for life, although, in mafiy cases, 

 the males must be in the minority. I have known 

 a case where three of these birds were kept (two 

 females and one male). Now, the male bird paired 

 with one of the females and remained united to her, 

 and never bestowed any of his affections upon the 

 more unfortunate female. Ducks always show a 

 polygamous instinct when in confinement, if the 

 females do not exceed the males. Again, the do- 

 mestic pigeon, though the females may far exceed 

 the males, a polygamous instinct will never be 

 manifested, the male birds pairing in due season, 

 and assisting to rear their offspring with as much 

 care as the female birds. It must also be remem- 

 bered that the males of polygamous birds are in- 

 variably of bright, if not conspicuous colours, while 

 the females closely resemble the colours of surround- 

 ing objects. The males, too, are the best eating, 

 invariably the largest, and consequently the most 

 liable to capture, and the most prized as articles of 

 food ; while the females are more often rejected, or 

 never discovered in their haunts. It will thus be 

 seen that the females would exceed the males, and, 

 did no such polygamous instinct exist within them, 

 circumstances the most disastrous would arise with 

 deadly certainty to their race. Thus, I again say, 

 that through one of the wisest provisions of nature, 

 these birds are able to afford us sustenance, and at 

 the same time maintain their position amongst their 

 •congeners in the struggle for existence. — Charles 

 Dixon, Hecley, near Sheffield. 



The Pairing Instincts of Birds. — Seeing 

 something in January part of Science-Gossip, about 

 the pairing instinct of birds, I thought the following 

 might be interesting. About April of last year I had 

 a brood of chickens, and amongst them I reared one 

 duck. When they grew old enough I killed all the 

 cocks except one, for which one the duck has shown 

 a strange attachment, following it all about. The 

 cock has reciprocated and continued this sexual 

 attachment, showing a decided preference for the 

 duck over the hens. I have, unfortunately, lost the 

 duck, but the night before, the cock, instead of going 

 up to roost beside the hens, as it generally did, slept 

 on the ground beside the duck. It is impossible now 

 to say what would have been the result of their 

 attachment ; but perhaps some of your readers would 



say whether they have observed the like. — John 

 Baillie, Sunderland. 



Herrings. — Can any of your numerous readers 

 inform me, what are the signs by which some fisher- 

 men know where large bodies of herrings are 

 swimming, even when their boats are sailing rapidly 

 through the water ? — J. W. 



Dredging. — Would some of your correspondents 

 be so kind as to give me some information on dredging 

 not far from the shore, also as to what books would 

 be useful in determining the objects I am likely to 

 find?— R.G.C. 



Curious Modes of Blossoming. — I have in my 

 garden here a Rhododendron which grows near the 

 house, and is sheltered by it from the south and 

 west, but has no shelter from the north or east. For 

 the last three years it has blossomed about this time 

 of the year (January). There have been several flowers 

 this year, but all on the same side of the tree, and 

 near together. Last year they were on the other side, 

 towards the house, and were a little earlier (at Christ- 

 mas), and less numerous, but this year there is no 

 shelter whatever from the north and east. The 

 flowers are a beautiful pink, like the flowers on the 

 same tree in the summer. There is also a yellow 

 jasmine, which grows in the drawing-room balcony, 

 now in blossom, and neither of these plants has any 

 sun during the winter, and not much in the summer, 

 owing to their position. — L. T. 



Caves in Somersetshire. — Nearly all that is 

 known of these caves is summarised in Mr. H. B. 

 Woodward's "Memoir on the Geology of East Somer- 

 set, and the Bristol Coalfield," published in 1S76 

 by the Geological Survey ; but as ' ' Somersaeta " and 

 other readers of Science-Gossip may not have ac- 

 cess to such expensive luxuries as Survey Memoirs, I 

 venture to offer a brief epitome of the subject. The 

 Lamb Cavern near East Harptree is now closed. It 

 seems to have been artificial, but was fully described 

 in Collinson's "History of Somerset" (1711). In 

 Burrington Combe are several caverns, four of which, 

 viz., Aveline's Hole, Plumley's Den, Whitcombe's 

 Hole, and the Great Goatchurch Cavern in Lower 

 Twinbrook Ravine, were explored by Professor Boyd 

 Dawkins and Mr. W. A. Sandford. (Geol. Mag. 

 vol. ii. p. 43 ; Rep. Brit. Assoc, 1864 ; Proc Somer- 

 set Arch, and Nat. Hist. Soc, partii., vol. xii. p. 161.) 

 They obtained remains of sheep, ox, reindeer, roe- 

 deer, ibex, goat, mammoth, bear, water-vole, wolf, 

 fox, badger, rabbit, hare, pig, mole, birds, and, in 

 Aveline's and Whitcombe's Holes, of man. The 

 human bones encrusted with stalagmite were evidently 

 buried. There are, or were, also caves in the Carboni- 

 ferous Limestone at Weston-super-Mare, Loxton, the 

 western end of Banwell Hill, and near Hutton. At 

 Uphill there are caves in the same formation, in which 

 remains of mammoth, deer, rhinoceros, wolf, ox, 

 horse, bear, otter, pig, hycena, fox, polecat, water- 

 vole, mouse, birds, and man, have been found. 

 (Pooley, Geologist, vol. vi. p. 331 ; E. C. H. Day, 

 Geol. Mag., vol. iii. p. 118 ; W. W. Stoddart, Proc. 

 Bristol Nat. Soc, vol. v. p. 37.) There are several 

 caverns at Cheddar, but Cox's is, though not large, 

 perhaps the most beautiful in England from its stalac- 

 tites. Bones of bear, deer, ox, horse, and man, 

 were recorded from a cave on the summit of the 

 Mendips here, by Mr. Long, in 1838. (Brit. Assoc. 

 Rep. 1838, p. 85.) Wookey Hole, near Wells, more 

 correctly spelt Okey (from British ago, a cave), is only 

 second to the Peak Cavern in Derbyshire in point of 

 size, being nearly six hundred feet long, and, in one 



