Queries and Ansxioers. 187 



Hooker I learned (if my memory serves me) that this species was so 

 widely distributed on the continent of Europe, the only wonder was, that 

 it had not long before been met with in Britain. And Mr. Haworth re- 

 marked that it was somewhat extraordinary the plant should have so long 

 escaped his notice, who had for a number of years resided at Chelsea, and 

 botanised, with no little assiduity, in its environs ; a circumstance, I may 

 observe, which may afford encouragement to naturalists in general, and 

 teach them that they ought never to despair of making fresh discoveries, 

 even in the most beaten tracks, as well as in the less explored districts. 

 This, I recollect, was the favourite maxim of the celebrated cryptogamist 

 the late Mr. James Dickson, that, hi whatever situation he might be cast, 

 something new was generally to be detected as a reward for diligent 

 research. Yours, &c. — W. T, Bree. Allesley Rectory^ Jan, 7. 1831. 



Art. IX. Queries and Ansu)er$, 



Substance found in the Stomach of a Coiv.—T. W. D. (Vol. IV. p. 90.), 

 in speaking of a substance found in the stomach of a horse, says, *' Can it 

 have been formed of hair licked by the animal off its shoulders ? " In the 

 month of August last I saw a substance of the same kind in the possession 

 of Mr. Rattray, surgeon, Glasgow ; it was presented to him by a person 

 who found it in the stomach of a cow. The substance was about the size 

 of a tennis ball, perfectly smooth, and nearly black. Mr. Rattray had made 

 an incision in it, to ascertain its contents, which proved to be composed of 

 the hair of the animal. I am. Sir, &c. — T. Blair. Stamford Hill^ Jan. 1 1 . 

 1831. 



Is it certain that the Fdlco Ossifragus is a yearling white-tailed Eagle ? — 

 If it be, what is the reason that we have yearly several of the young 

 \dsiting our rivers, and very rarely, if ever, an old bird? I have two 

 killed within the last four years, and there have been several others shot. 



— Edivard Acton, Surgeon. Grundisbzcrgh, near Woodbridge, Nov. 29. 1830. 

 Vzcus minor. — The bird sent [Picus minor Lin.'\, I observed for a con- 

 siderable time near the spot on which I was at work, minutely examining 

 the bark of an old chestnut tree, and apparenth feeding on some insect or 

 other substance it discovered there. What is it ? — C. Spring. Jan. 7. 183]. 



The bird above-mentioned is the lesser spotted woodpecker (Picus 

 minor Linn.), and a male ; a well-known British bird, but by no means so 

 common as the green or the great spotted woodpeckers. The habits of 

 this diminutive species are similar to those of the other woodpeckers, and 

 the wryneck ; but, unlike the latter, the lesser woodpecker with its generic 

 companions remain in England all the year. The mode of taking their 

 food, and the structure of the tongue and its appendages were described 

 in Vol. III. p. 474., under the article " Wryneck." Sibbald has recorded 

 this bird as taken in Scotland, but probably by mistake, since, according to 

 Mr. Selby, it is rare in the north, and he has never been able to trace it in 

 Scotland, even where fir plantations and forests abound, which M. Tem- 

 minck states to be its favourite haunt. Though difflised over our southern 

 and western counties, it is not a species that can be considered plentiful. 



— S. T. P. 



Necrophorus germdnicus. — Sir, Encouraged by the manner in which 

 the remarks of the most insignificant beginners are received, I venture 

 to transmit to you the following ; hoping that you, or some of your cor- 

 respondents, will have the kindness to solve my difficulties. There is an 

 insect which I have often seen in the pools on the commons in the neigh- 

 bourhood of London, of which I never could find out the name, until the 

 other day, when I saw one in the museum at Ghent, in Holland, with a 



