2IO 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



the subject. The book itself is well got up ; the 

 type is good, and it is embellished with a goodly 

 number of woodcuts. 



"British Bee-Keeper's Guide Book." — Under 

 this title Messrs. Houlston & Sons have published 

 a capital little book, price one and sixpence, written 

 by Mr. T. W. Cowan, F.G.S. The author is the 

 chaii-man of the British Bee-Keepers' Association, 

 and author of several books on apiculture. We 

 cordially recommend this little work. 



The Virginian Nightingale. — Permit me to in- 

 form Mr, E. C. Morris that the bird called " Virginian 

 Nightingale " in my paper published in Science- 

 Gossip for April, 1881, isalso known by the name of 

 Cardinal Grosbeak [Cardinalis Virgbiiamis, Loxia 

 Cardinalis, Coccoihratcstes Cardinalis, ^'c), and is a 

 native of the Southern States of the Union, though 

 penetrating northwards during the summer. The de- 

 scription of it in my paper is derived from personal 

 acquaintance with the bird and its habits, I have no 

 knowledge of the American mocking-bird, though I 

 have seen it in several of the London dealers' shops. 

 Mr, Morris must be a stranger indeed, or he would 

 not speak of letting foreign birds loose in our suburbs 

 with a view to acclimatisation. The article in the 

 "Daily Telegraph" of April, 1881, to which I 

 presume he alludes, was a rechauffe of my paper in 

 Science-Gossip, though the source from whence it 

 was mainly derived was unacknowledged, and it was 

 interspersed, with original paragraphs, almost all as 

 sensible as that quoted by Mr. Morris, for whose 

 information I may add that the sparrow {Passer 

 domesticiis), when full-grown, never eats insects, 

 although it feeds its young, while in the nest, upon 

 caterpillars, moths and flies. It is a mischievous bird, 

 and as much disliked in Australia and New Zealand, 

 as it appears to be in America ; it is as great an 

 adept at eating cherries and shelling peas as the 

 Virginian Nightingale, whose song, by the bye, will 

 not bear comparison, by a long way, with that of 

 JLtiscinia Philomela. In conclusion, I cannot help 

 saying that we are very frequently amused by 

 American blunders about us and our belongings, and 

 know, perhaps, quite as much about our cousins 

 over-sea as they do about us : ergo, " Those who live 

 in glass houses should not throw stones." — IV. T. 

 Greene, M.D. 



ACMEA LINEATA, var. SINISTRORSA.— On the 6th 

 of March, 1880, I went to Heywood, Yorkshire, to a 

 place where I have been in the habit of obtaining 

 Acmea lineata. On this occasion I only found a few, 

 but when I had taken them home, I discovered 

 amongst them a specimen of the very rare shell, 

 Acmea lineata, var. sinistrorsa. It is a fine shell, 

 good and perfect, and living when found. This is 

 the first that has been taken in Yorkshire, and the 

 second in England. — Joseph Whitiuham. [The first 



specimen of this shell was found among the refuse of 

 the Avon at Bristol. It is a monstrosity, having the 

 spire reversed. — W. B. H.] 



Cormorants. — In vol. i. of Mr. A. M, Sullivan's 

 " New Ireland," page 290, the following passage 

 occurs in a description of Lough Cooter, co. Galway. 

 " The lake covers an area of nearly eight square 

 miles, and is studded with wooded islands. One of 

 these has been for years the home of innumerable 

 herons and cormorants ; perhaps the only instance on 

 record of an island in a fresh-zuater lake being in- 

 habited by the latter birds.''^ (The italics are mine.) 

 Presuming that Mr. Sullivan is right as to his facts, 

 will any of the readers of Science-Gossip, whose 

 opportunities of observing the habits of these birds 

 may be greater than mine, kindly inform me if he is 

 also correct in his theory ; or if there are other places 

 of the same kind, whei-e cormorants are to be found 

 "at home"?— y. H. H. 



Larus ridibundus v. L. atricilla. — T. S. is 

 perfectly right in calling the common black-headed 

 gull Larus ridibiindns and the American laugliing 

 gull L. atricilla. J. D. might take exception to the 

 generic name perhaps, but certainly not to the 

 specific. — y. U. Gitrncy, jiin. 



The Butterflies of Europe. — We have re- 

 ceived Part II. of the above, valuable work, which 

 will be further noticed in a future number. It is by 

 Mr. H. Charles Lang, M.D., F.L.S, and, at present, 

 we can only say that the descriptions are lucid, and 

 the plates, which well illustrate larva and pupa in 

 addition to the imago, are very beautiful. 



Tryph.^na pronuea. — This moth is extremely 

 abundant this year. At sugar it literally swarms, and 

 even in the house it is often disturbed from the 

 rooms. In the country you cannot walk across a 

 field without rousing a lot from the grass, it is also to 

 be seen flying in the brightest sunshine. — Geo, F. 

 IVheldon. 



The Black Rat. — In reply to your correspondent 

 T. S., I may say that I know of three localities for 

 the black rat in this island. Two of these are farm 

 premises at Longueville, about two miles from St. 

 Helier's, and distant apart about a mile. I find, how- 

 ever, that in one of these extermination has been 

 attempted, and has almost proved successful, very few 

 remaining ; the other, and I think most populous 

 locality, is a warehouse, or rather a series of store- 

 rooms, in St, Helier's, about the centre of the town, — 

 y. Sinel, Jersey. 



Helix pomatia. — Your correspondent J, O, B. 

 will find that Jlelix pomatia thrives immensely on 

 lettuce leaves. I have often kept them on this food, 

 and have a couple now on that diet. — IV. C. Hey. 



