Queries and Answers. 185 



of the Fritillaria imperialis, it is stated, " the willow wren 

 creeps up the stems of this plant, and sips the drops of honey 

 as they hang from the petals." I very much doubt if the 

 willow wren can effect this, if it be inclined. I have watched 

 a great many plants at different times, and never could detect 

 a wren on or near them. If any of your correspondents have 

 seen them performing the above act, and will inform us, they 

 would particularly oblige. Yours, &c. — H. Turner. Bury 

 St. Edmunds, April 30. 1832. 



The " Bird whose nightly Note foretells approaching Wea- 

 ther" (p. 93.) may, I think, be referred to the tinnitus aurium, 

 that peculiar singing in the ears which often precedes a 

 change of weather; and is caused by the alteration in the 

 weight of the atmosphere, and the diseased state of the au- 

 ditory nerve. I have heard it in almost every variation of 

 sound, from a very low note to the shrillest piping imagin- 

 able, and I have noticed that the very high notes usually 

 prognosticate rainy weather, the change, in every instance, 

 taking place within 24 hours after it had been heard. The 

 lower notes are frequently accompanied by a feeling precisely 

 like to that which is observed on approaching a wall in the 

 dark. I noticed it about 10 p.m., on Dec. 30. 1832: it in 

 that instance sounded very shrill, and was followed by a fall 

 of snow. I also noticed it at 8 A. M. of the following day ; 

 it was then in a lower key, and so faint as to be but just 

 audible : the thaw began here about 1 1 a. m. These indica- 

 tions of the weather are noticed in Forster's Encyclopaedia of 

 Natural Phenomena. I conceive that they might be arranged 

 according to the notes of the gamut, and, by having the 

 change noted opposite, would form a novel weather table. — 

 B. B. W. Norwich, Jan. 7. 1833. 



Some Account of the Natterjack (B&fb Hubeta Fleming, Kdna 

 Hubeta L.). — Sir, A correspondent in the Imperial Magazine 

 for May last states that a new species of frog exists in the 

 neighbourhood of Lewisham, in Kent, and was peculiar to that 

 part of the country. As I have nearly ready for the press a 

 Monograph on the Zoology and Comparative Anatomy of the 

 genus i?ana, and of the B. temporariain particular, I shall feel 

 thankful for any information on this subject which any corre- 

 spondent may please to favour me with. On perusing the para- 

 graph in the magazine alluded to, I wrote to some scientific 

 friends at Lewisham and its neighbourhood, but can obtain 

 no information respecting any new species. Professor Rennie, 

 in answer to a note I addressed to him on this subject, in- 

 forms me, that he has heard that the natterjack (the .Sana 

 iaibeta) has been found at Blackheath : but he doubts ; it at 



