HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



31 



writer, and that is, that a large proportion of the 

 eggs are usually addled ones. This season I found 

 a nest built on the side of a weir, containing a young 

 one just breaking through the shell, and five un- 

 hatched eggs. On trying them, I concluded they 

 must be addled, but left them in the nest a week 

 longer, and on again visiting it, was not displeased 

 to find my conjecture right, for they were still un- 

 hatched, and addled. They were almost as easy 

 to blow as freshly laid ones, so I carried them off 

 as a prize worth having. I am inclined to think 

 that the fact of so many eggs being unproductive 

 may to some extent account for the scarcity of this 

 pretty little bird. Perhaps, some other ornithologist 

 may have noticed this circumstance and will kindly 

 report upon it. 



About noon we arrived at a little glade, thickly 

 overgrown with briar and bramble bushes, which we 

 knew as being a favourite haunt of the grasshopper 

 warbler {S. loatstcUa), and we were not long before 

 we heard the peculiar stridulous note of this curious 

 bird, which, from its retired habits, is far oftener 

 heard than seen. We spent a considerable time in 

 searching for its nest, but without avail ; for although 

 we several times got a glimpse of the bird itself 

 creeping amongst the long grass and bushes, the 

 undergrowth was so dense, that finding the nest 

 would have been a case of accident. I have usually 

 found the cup-shaped nest, with its six or seven 

 pinky-white eggs, speckled with spots of a reddish 

 hue, at the foot of a bush, or amongst long grass. I 

 consider it one of the most difficult nests to find ; and 

 all I have seen have been found by going at dusk, or 

 when the bird is sitting, and carefully watching for 

 it flying off, whilst you beat the bushes gently with a 

 . stick. I have often been struck with the wonderful 

 ventriloquial powers of this bird. Although it may 

 be but two or three yards from you, its note will 

 sometimes seem fifty yards away, now in front, 

 and then behind you, so that it is difficult to make 

 out exactly where the sound really comes from. 

 This power is most noticeable when the bird is 

 alarmed, and is doubtless intended as a means of 

 protection. 



In this place we found nests of blackheaded bunt- 

 ing [E. schceiiiclus), lesser whitethroat {C. sylviella), 

 blackcap (C atricapilla), and bullfinch (/*. vulgaris), 

 and otlier commoner ones. 



During the day we found a nest of jay (G^. glan- 

 dariits) snugly concealed in the fork of an ivy- 

 covered tree ; two nests of kestrel [F. tiiiiiunciilits), 

 and one of sparrowhawk {A. iiisus) ; both these latter 

 breed rather commonly with us. We also found 

 several nests of magpie {P. caiuiata), ringdove (C. 

 palumbiis) and snipe {S. galUnagd), besides scores of 

 nests of th^ commoner species, which we scarcely 

 deigned to notice. 



Having now explored the banks of the stream for 

 a considerable distance, and night approaching, we 



retraced our steps homeward tired enough — but well 

 pleased with the various treasures we had procured, 

 which in years to come will, I hope, serve to remind 

 us of our pleasant "brookside ramble." 



Gocsnargk, Lancaster. R. Standen. 



A NATURALIST'S EXPLORATION OF NEW 

 GUINEA. 



NEXT to the pleasures of exploring new regions, 

 and seeing for the first time wonderful and 

 strange forms of animaFand vegetable life, comes the 

 interest in reading of them, and thus it is with con- 

 fidence we can draw the attention of readers to a 

 handsome new book on the "terra incognita" of 

 New Guinea by Signor D'Albertis, and published by 

 Messrs. Sampson Low & Co. 



Perhaps less is known of the great island of Papua 

 than of any other part of the world, with the exception 

 of Central Africa, and hitherto its fauna and flora have, 

 like the golden apples of the Hesperides, hung out as 

 a rich reward for the daring adventurer who should 

 first reach them. At the back of the world, the great 

 forest-clad island has been out of reach of naturalists 

 who could not devote much time and energy to its 

 treasures, and even when the explorer approaches it 

 he finds the coast is girt by that grim guardian of 

 many of the most lovely spots of the tropical world — 

 the deadly fever and malaria. So when the author 

 enthusiastically sets out for a five years' voyage of 

 discovery "to the land of ever verdant primeval 

 forests, a region of perpetual ecstasy," we follow his 

 record with much interest, though we fear that the 

 "perpetual ecstasy" will be considerably modified 

 before the task is done. 



Signor D'Albertis belongs to the class of explorers, 

 of whom Dr. Livingstone was a bright example, who 

 win their way in wild countries and among hostile 

 natives rather by gentleness than force of arms, and 

 are ready rather to give up their most cherished 

 objects than spill human blood unnecessarily, even 

 although it be only the blood of "savages." Thus, 

 though frequently attacked, and constantly treated 

 with contempt by the natives, only on two occasions, 

 and in actual self-defence, did the author find 

 bloodshed absolutely unavoidable. 



Once landed it does not take him long to modify 

 his enthusiasm at the primeval jungle, and having 

 established a base of operations at the island of 

 Sorong, he makes his first expedition to the river 

 Ramoi, and encamps somedistance up the stream in 

 a forest, the description of which is most fascinating. 

 But though a good place for collecting, the natives 

 are afraid of the white man, and will not bring him 

 any food ; besides this, the %\hole party get fever, and 

 in fourteen or fifteen days are only too glad to escape 

 from the very lovely but deadly spot. 



Another expedition, inland, is more successful. 



