HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



141 



dangled out of the mouth of the large snake, and a 

 gentle but continuous pull soon separated the animals 

 — the smaller one, rat and all, was withdrawn from 

 the stomach of the larger one. A few dashes of cold 

 water and then a warming in the sun soon revived 

 the small snake, which appeared to be exhausted, 

 and he then finished swallowing the rat, to which he 

 had held on with remarkable tenacity. — Arthin- 

 Hotigh, Fromc, British Burma. 



Gnats and the Frost. — The interesting little 

 dipterous insects ranged under the general term, 

 gnats, are among the few flies that live through the 

 weary winter months, concealed from view, and only 

 brought to light in full activity whenever the sun- 

 shine tempts them from their safe retreat. At the 

 end of autumn they bestir themselves to secure suit- 

 able winter lodgings, taking good care that the 

 situation be such that they can emerge without 

 delay, when a flood of sunshine, an increase of 

 warmth, or drizzling rain succeeded by moist, warm 

 weather, indicated that their health might be im- 

 proved and their little frames strengthened by a 

 hasty dance in the pure winter air. So far as I have 

 observed, their hybernacula consist in the crevices in 

 old walls and in bark of trees ; beneath ledges in 

 palings and buildings, cellars and out-houses ; and 

 among moss growing on walls and such-hke places. 

 Your correspondent, Mr. W. Goodwin, took Tifiila 

 flumosa so early as January 22nd last ; I saw gnats 

 playing about in the sunshine, on January 31st, i.e. 

 the first time this year. Gilbert White in his excellent 

 calendar gives January 6th as the earliest date of his 

 observing these merry little flies. The life-history of 

 gnats in general is well known, at least the broad 

 facts of their mode of metamorphosis ; at the present 

 time the larvre, in various stages of development 

 according to the species, are exceedingly plentiful in 

 the mud of ponds and ditches. I believe that dip- 

 terous larvte, especially the smaller kinds, when 

 found in the water taken from ponds for microscopi- 

 cal examination are frequently passed over as worms 

 —i.e. true worms of low organisation. A little 

 attention, however, to the structure of the so-called 

 worms in question will at once reveal the distinctive 

 characteristics of insect larvre, and it is quite aston- 

 ishing how large a number of distinct species may be 

 obtained from any pond by a single dip of the net. 

 These larvce, it may be remarked, form beautiful 

 objects for the microscope, for being so small and 

 transparent, the wondrous operations of their internal 

 mechanism may be easily watched. It is much to be 

 regretted that no popular handbook in English exists 

 (that I am aware of) on the Diptera — a much more 

 interesting order of insects than is generally thought. 

 True, it is a troublesome group to entomologists, but 

 then there are so many extremely common and well- 

 defined species of flies that a small treatise on their 

 habits and structure would, I believe, be very accept- 

 able to the reading public. — C. Francis Voiatg. 



Incubator for Vvv/e. — Could any of your 

 numerous readers give me a few hints as to how to 

 make, at a modei-ate cost, a sort of incubator for 

 pupje of Lepidoptera,how long it generally takes, 

 and what temperature should be continually kept up ? 

 Any information will oblige — <A Beginner. 



Diatoms in Oysters. — I purchased a tin of 

 Thurber's oysters, and in them I found a quantity 

 of most beautiful diatoms quite different from any- 

 thing I had ever seen before. Will any of your 

 readers <kindly inform me what kind they would 

 most likely be ? — R. Jones. 



Disappearance of Skylarks. — In addition to 

 the causes enumerated by correspondents to account 

 for the scarcity of skylarks, I think the epicures of 

 the metropolis are not guiltless in the matter. Last 

 winter every poulterer's shop, the " Stores " included, 

 contained hundreds, in some cases thousands, of these 

 beautiful songsters. Who eat skylarks ? I, for one, 

 do not envy the feelings of the gastronomist who 

 could be guilty of such an enormity. — IV. T. G. 



Scarcity of Skylarks.— I am afraid that the 

 scarcity of skylarks may be accounted for by other 

 means than by the agency of starlings. In numbers of 

 poulterer's shops in London may be seen quantities 

 of larks deprived of their plumage and strung up. 

 'i hey are sold at about is. to is. 6d. a dozen. Think 

 of the number of poulterer's shops in the metropolis, 

 and that in every shop there are from two to three 

 hundred of these little birds on view each day ! Is 

 it any wonder that larks should yearly decrease in 

 numbers, not only around London but throughout 

 the country ? These birds may not be all larks ; there 

 are robins, finches, linnets, arid others of our little 

 feathered friends murdered wholesale in this way. One 

 can hardly tell their species, because they are all 

 deprived of their feathers ; but I think, that, with 

 such wide-spread destruction before our eyes, there 

 ought to be something done to prevent the sale of 

 these tiny birds, — P. S. Taylor. 



Starlings and Skylarks. — I think the evidence 

 thus far brought against the starling causing the 

 destruction of the eggs of the skylark is weak and 

 unsatisfactory ; and several of your correspondents 

 have given other reasons far more probable. Unless- 

 the bird can be taken in the act, it is unjust to lay 

 such heavy charges against it. The nearest approach 

 to a proof is the case mentioned by Mr. R. Standen, 

 in which a flight of starlings arose in the vicinity of a 

 lark's nest, and the eggs were found to be broken. 

 But this is far from conclusive, as there is no 

 evidence that the eggs were broken by the starlings. 

 I cannot but think that if the starling were really guilty 

 of such a misdemeanour, cases would long ago have 

 been brought to light. I believe the real causes of 

 the decrease of skylarks in certain parts, may be found 

 in the enclosure of waste land, and its conversion 

 into pasture-land ; increase of the number of cattle 

 grazing therein ; brush and other methods of harrow- 

 ing, in order to spread the manure ; and last, but not 

 least, the large numbers of birds annually captured 

 by bird dealers for cage birds. But in the neighbour- 

 hood of Northallerton (N. Yorks), I do not find any 

 appreciable decrease in their numbers ; but rather the 

 reverse, as last year I found more nests of this species 

 than in any season before. At the same 'time, 

 starlings were never more abundant than now ; every 

 old tree having one or more nests in it. I once found 

 four pairs breeding in the same tree ; and a gentle- 

 man's gardener, upon whose truthfulness I can rely, 

 told me that last summer he destroyed over two 

 hundred starling eggs in his pigeons'-cote, in one day. 

 He gave as his reason a commonly-believed idea, that 

 they destroyed the eggs of the pigeon. Yet although 

 they were so numerous, he confessed to not having 

 found any sucked eggs. If the starling does any 

 injury to the cote, it only arises from its taking up 

 the nesting-holes to the exclusion of their rightful 

 owners. — y. A. Whcldon. 



Query as to Larva^. — The larvoe mentioned by 

 C. H. are evidently those of beetles, possibly one of 

 the chafers, from the short description given. — C. F,, 

 Eastbourne. 



