i66 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Fig- 73 ; in fact, no one would recognise the two as 

 being meant for the same things, and I think to an 

 entomologist's eye fig. 74 is anything but plam. 

 Would it not have been better to mention the various 

 parts of the mouth which this figure is supposed to 

 represent ? I should very much like to know whether 

 the various figures were drawn from life, death (dried 

 up, or in balsam), works of foreign authors, &.c.—Not 

 ■a Brawler. 



Haws, Holly Berries, etc.— I have three 

 large and old thorns ; last season they had only 

 .about half their usual quantity ; they generally bear 

 abundantly ; all my hollies, which are mostly varie- 

 gated, had none. At Christmas the cry was holly 

 with berries on it ; it was a rare article. I have a 

 large variegated holly, 40 feet high and about 100 

 years old, which scarcely bore a berry. January, 

 1874, was particularly mild, and that tree was loaded 

 to excess. Contrast the mild weather at that season 

 and the quantity of berries with the cold this season 

 and no berries. I have a mulberry-tree, 100 years 

 old or more ; last autumn we never put a ladder into 

 it ; the summer before it had but few ; it generally 

 has been a great bearer— fruit in general was scarce. 

 Birds — 1 have seen 33 starlings on my lawn at the 

 time. The pied wagtail, although a constant visitor, 

 I never see now, and the yellow ones appear very 

 scarce. The fieldfare has been a rare bird here this 

 winter. Wild fowl — we have had a good share. Two 

 bitterns were shot about a mile from here, so they 

 are not quite extinct. The Tipula oleracea, or daddy- 

 longlegs, we had but very few last season, that 

 is, close here. We cannot always account for the 

 change of place of these things ; they inhabit a place 

 for a time and then disappear for a while ; sometimes 

 the snails and slugs how abundant they are. Fishes— 

 my grandfather caught two Fordwich trout or hookbill, 

 the two weighing 48 lb., but that must be many years 

 ago, perhaps 80 or 90. My father one season caught 

 three eels, weighing 21 lb. the three. We commonly get 

 one every season weighing 7 lb. , the largest I know 

 of caught here weighed 8 lb. I have never seen a 

 lamprey only about 17 inches long. A man about 

 a mile below here caught on the tip of his scythe 

 a lamprey nearly 3 feet in length and weighing about 

 4 lb. I speak quite locally.— 77^^W(rj' Kingsford. 



Query as to Larv^. — In reply to C. H. they 

 are evidently the larvee of one of the Coleoptera, but 

 the description is not sufficient to say to what species 

 they belong ; very probably they are the larvK 

 of the stag beetle {Liuanits cervus). — Wm. Lozv 

 Serjeant. 



Owls. — Your correspondent, W. Gregson, men- 

 tions in Science-Gossip what he considers a 

 "strange flight of owls." I have no doubt that one 

 of the numerous flocks of the short-eared owl {Otits 

 brachyotus) has reached Ripon. They appear on 

 the east coast every autumn in flocks— immediately 

 taking to some such cover as is afforded by a turnip- 

 field or stubble. They are much more diurnal in 

 their habits than the other British owls. A few 

 remain to breed, but the great majority depart 

 before spring sets in. They seem to have been 

 unusually abundant this winter ; some flocks getting 

 as far west as the county of Pembroke. It would be 

 interesting to learn from other correspondents in 

 various parts of the country if they have been met 

 with elsewhere.— .fft/zc. /. Gihbins, Neath. 



W^ EASEL OR Stoat ?— In reply to J. 11. H.'s query, 

 I can verify the statement from my own observation 

 that the weasel is to be found in the North of 



Ireland ; at least was as common as the stoat about 

 Cushendun, in the year 1869 when I was living in 

 the Glens of Antrim, and I see no reason why it 

 should have disappeared. W. Thompson, in his 

 Nat. Hist, of Ireland, writes that it has been found at 

 Forstead, which is in the same locality. The game- 

 keeper of Mr. Lowry Pomeroy has also trapped it. — 

 .S. A. Brenan, Rector of Altcdesert, Pomeroy. 



Crab, Shrimp, and Lobster Lore.— Mr. Lord, 

 in his useful little work, published some years ago 

 under this title, makes no mention of crustacean 

 animals being able to exist for a lengthened period 

 without solid food, and I have seen no statement to 

 this effect in any other book on the natural history of 

 the class, except with reference to the annual 

 shedding of the shell, which takes place in or later 

 than the month of August, and previous to which 

 operation the animal goes without food, and mopes 

 in retirement for some time. Reaumur, who watched 

 the process of exuviation in the river crayfish, says 

 that the creature previously abstained from all solid 

 nourishment "for a few days." From the 23rd of 

 December last to the 2nd of May, I kept a small 

 Lobster (measuring 5J inches from the front of the 

 head to the extremity of the tail) alive ; and during 

 the whole of that period it took no solid food. I 

 constantly tempted it with fish, both fresh and stale, 

 and even with fish offal, which is found by fisher- 

 men to be most attractive bait for lobsters ; with 

 meat, both raw and cooked ; with oyster, mussel and 

 shrimp : but all were alike refused. Any food 

 placed within reach of the lobster was speedily taken 

 in its claws and deposited on the highest ledge of 

 stones it could find, as though to indicate unmis- 

 takably its refusal. The growing seaweeds kept in 

 the vessel were not eaten. During the whole of the 

 period above mentioned the lobster was kept in the 

 same water, in a large glazed earthen crock. From 

 time to time I took out my pet, poured off the water, 

 washed the crock and the stones, rectified the density 

 of the water, and restored the lobster to its home ; 

 and I fear that its death may have been occasioned 

 by this needful operation being delayed too long. In 

 no other way can I account for its decease. Cer- 

 tainly it did not die of starvation, for finding it dead, 

 I had it boiled in order to ascertain its condition, 

 and, on opening it, I found every part of the shell 

 entirely filled with solid, healthy-looking flesh. The 

 lobster was lively enough in its captivity, and, when- 

 ever I approached its prison, would come to the 

 edge and spread out its claws in droll fashion. At 

 night it was particularly active, and frequently 

 amused itself by re-arranging to its own liking the 

 stones which I had built up into a cave-like recess 

 for its accommodation.— .SZ/'iT/ Saunders, Whiistahle- 

 on-Sea. 



"Magpie Roosts" and "Carrion Crow 

 Roosts." — Your correspondent in last month's 

 Science-Gossip, who signs himself G. Turvill, 

 relates a matter of such extraordinary interest when 

 he speaks of having been personally acquainted with 

 a " magpie roost of perhaps two hundred or three 

 hundred birds," and of a "carrion crow roost of over 

 five hundred birds," that I trust he will gratify my 

 curiosity and, I doubt not, that of many other 

 readers of Science-Gossip, if he will kindly 

 give us further particulars, especially in regard 

 to place and date of these his valuable experiences. 

 I can only say for myself that I have never heard 

 anything like it, and would travel a long distance 

 to see such a glorious sight, and shall be truly 

 grateful for further information. I should add 



