HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



2S1 



they do not, and the height of cruelty to deprive 

 them of water for any length of time; nevertheless, 

 the worthy magistrates who, at the instance of the 

 excellent Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 

 Animals, fined Mr. Cross for sending six parrots to 

 London from Liverpool without water, were utterly 

 ignorant of the subject upon which they undertook to 

 adjudicate, as were also the prosecutors in the case, 

 who I understand, at a subsequent hearing had to 

 compensate the dealer they had rashly proceeded 

 against. Finally, even supposing that the parrots at 

 the Zoological Gardens were all, really and truly, 

 kept deprived of water, or its equivalent, and still 

 contrived to exist, that would in no wise alter the 

 case, or my opinion upon it, for I think it is an open 

 question. I don't know if Mr. Bartlett ever saw a wild 

 parrot, or studied their habits in their native woods, 

 many animals will live for a long time without water 

 that, nevertheless, drink freely whenever they have 

 an x)pportunity of doing so. — IV. 7\ Greene, M.D., 

 Moira House, Peck ham Rye. 



Parrots. — A friend of mine has a parrot which is 

 about three or four years of age. During the last 

 few months the bird has acquired a lamentable habit 

 of plucking out the breast and back feathers, leaving 

 the long feathers of the wings and tail undis- 

 turbed. In all other respects the bird seems healthy. 

 Can any of your correspondents explain the probable 

 cause, and suggest a remedy or means whereby the 

 bird may regain its natural plumage ? — W. E. B. 



How CAN WE POPULARISE NATURAL HISTORY ? — 



With reference to the article by Mr. J. S. Clifford in 

 the November number of Science-Gossip, allow 

 me to give the results of my limited experience. The 

 instruction of the young in entomology is the key- 

 stone of the movement suggested, and I feel confident 

 that if there was one master at each of our higher- 

 grade schools who would try to interest the boys in 

 its kindred subjects, he would find no lack of eager 

 listeners. When I came here there ^\as no natural 

 history society at all, the one that used to exist 

 having died a natural death, not by any means 

 through the fault of its very energetic president and 

 officers, but from lack of real workers among the 

 boys. I offered to devote two hours a week out of 

 school to give lectures on this subject, and at first 

 eight boys availed themselves of this ofler, some of 

 whom wished to take up botany, others entomology. I 

 determined to take the two alternately. Within three 

 days after my second lecture the number of attend- 

 ants was trebled, and it seems as if the number would 

 continue to increase. I am taking them through the 

 whole of the animal and vegetable kingdom in an 

 elementary way, and they listen most attentively 

 when I tell them of the wonders they have never 

 heard of before. The fact that these boys devote two 

 hours of their playtime a week to be instructed in 

 natural history, and that every one of them regularly 

 attends both series of lectures, proves that this branch 

 of science would be eagerly embraced by many and 

 many a young student, if one willing to teach them 

 were forthcoming. The notes which are taken 

 during the lectures are copied out neatly in a way 

 that only those who love the subject could do. 

 Another great and almost equally efficacious way of 

 exciting latent interest is to dissemmate such papers 

 as the Science-Gossip, which treat of a variety of 

 subjects in a clear and very interesting way, and I 

 have often heard regret expressed at not having 

 known of such a periodical before. If only we can 

 get boys to look upon natural history, not in the 

 isolated manner with which it is generally viewed, but 



as a science capable of almost infinite extension in all 

 its branches, we shall have no cause to seek for a 

 method of popularising it. — Walter G. IVoollcombe, 

 B.A., F.L.S., &--e. 



The Virginia Nightingale. — I am somewhat 

 surprised at the want of knowledge respecting the 

 so-called " Virginia Nightingale," expressed by £. C. 

 Morris in your August number, inasmuch as Wilson, 

 a recognised authority in Europe as well as on 

 this Continent, in his chapter on the cardinal 

 grosbeak [Loxia earJinalis), says : " This is one ot 

 our most common cage birds, and is very generally 

 known, not only in North America, but even in 

 Europe;" and he adds that in England "they are 

 usually called Virginia Nightingales." This is the 

 name by which they are commonly known in Canada 

 also. Wilson then inserts a quotation from Dr. 

 Latham to the following effect: "To this name," 

 Virginia Nightingale, " they are fully entitled, from 

 the clearness and variety of their notes, ^^illich, both 

 in a wild and domestic state, are various and musical." 

 Having kept this bird myself for some years, I can 

 fully endorse the opinion entertained by both those 

 gentlemen. At the same time there is no doubt that 

 the mocking bird {Tardus polyglottics), a singularly 

 happy epithet, is superior as a songster. — V. C. 



The English Sparrow. — This bird, alluded to 

 by the same correspondent, is a regular nuisance 

 in Canada, for it not only devours our small fruits, 

 but it bullies and drives away our own prettier and 

 more charming spring birds, e.g. the blue bird {Sylvia 

 sialis), the chipping sparrow {^Fringilla socialis), &c. 

 A short time ago, attracted by a loud and angry 

 twittering, I saw four English sparrows worrying a 

 chipping sparrow on the ground ; and they would, I 

 feel sure, have killed that familiar little native, the 

 tamest of our birds, but for my intervention. We 

 cannot but admire their pluck, but we disapprove of 

 " their tricks and their manners." — V. C. 



Circus Swainsonii. — In your journal for July, I 

 notice among the "Notes on the Inland Birds of 

 Ceylon," what must evidently be a mistake in F.L.'s 

 description of Circus STvainsonii ; under his heading 

 ^^Distribution," he writes of- it as "fluttering over 

 one spot, or stooping as it is called." Now these 

 characteristics, including the size and colour, are all 

 far more in keeping with the habits of Elamis 

 melanopterus, than either Circus Swainsonii or 

 Circus cineraceus, both of which are nearer seventeen 

 inches in length than twelve inches, which are given 

 as the length of the specimens which he possesses. 

 The upper wing-coverts, too, are specially those of 

 the Elanus melanopterus, and the brown colour on 

 the under sides of the wing must result from imma- 

 ture specimens. — William Robert Laurie. 



Orchis Morio. — One of your contributors men- 

 tions that he found Orchis Morio with white flowers. 

 I have only seen the fact mentioned once, and that is 

 in Babington's " Manual ; " I have never met with 

 it myself. It will be rarely that such a form is met 

 with. Such valuable additions to our "variety 

 flora " will be welcomed by all botanists. 



Bifurcation of the Fir. — In No. 186 Mr. 

 G. T. Harris asks if any of the readers of Science- 

 Gossip have noticed the bifurcation of fir. It is quite 

 common in this part. I have seen all kinds of firs 

 bifurcated, some with three and four stems. I should 

 think there are various causes for it, in some the tops 

 get damaged, and some from other causes. — J. J. 



