208 THE QUERIST. 



some of your numerous correspondents, better qualified than myself, would have written 

 to you about it, especially as it has called forth many remarks from the members of 

 two Entomological Societies to which I belong. As no one has done so, and as the commu- 

 nication, instead of giving information, tends rather to throw dust in our eyes, I now 

 venture to correct one statement. He says, at the end of June Bleakley made an 

 excursion of ten days to Brockenhurst, in the New Forest, and on the bole of an oak he 

 captured a fine 9 of Heterogena ascllas, etc. Now, my veracity is quite as dear to me as 

 Mr. Edleston's is to him, and as I have told all my entomological friends that I took the speci- 

 men of Heterogena asellus, which he says my friend John Bleakley took, I feel it a duty I owe 

 to myself to con-ect Mr. Edleston's assertion, by informing your readers that / took the species 

 he names, sitting on a beech tree, (not oak,) near Brockenhurst, in the New Forest, on the 

 10th. day of July, 1852. Now as a beech and an oak make a wonderful difference in a 

 communication, especially when it would lead any one to neglect a locality where the insect 

 has been taken, (not that I am sure Asellus feeds on beech,) to hunt where it was only said 

 to have been taken. I think you will excuse my occupying so much of your space, if by so 

 doing I enable some of our fellow entomologists to save their time. It is quite time all mys- 

 tification should be done away with amongst entomologists, and I hope I have cleared up any 

 doubt about AscHus. — Thomas Hague, Cock Brook, Ashton-under-Lyae, March 15th., 1853. 



We insert the above communication; but would observe with respect to it, that we feel 

 quite sure Mr. Edleston, whatever may be the absolute facts, never intended to mislead any one 

 as to the locality in question. A mistake between an oak and a beech might easily be madej<^\=^ 



B. R. M. 



The Jledgehog, (Erinaccus Europoous.) — If a stick is inserted in the ground and shaken, or 

 if the ground bo beaten for some time with a spade, worms will rise to the surface. Does the 

 Hedgehog in performing his circuits, as described in "The Naturalist," vol. iii., pages 35 and 

 81, cause a sufficient vibration in the ground to produce the same effect, and thus enable him 

 to procure food. — H. Buckley, Calthorpc-Street, Birmingham, August 8th., 1853. 



Can any reader of "The Naturalist" furnish me with a moi-e recent instance of the Honey 

 Buzzard, {Pernis apivorits,) breeding in Great Britain, than that mentioned by Gilbert White, 

 in his "History of Selborne. — H. S., Richmond, Yorkshire. 



I perceive in "The Naturalist," that one of your correspondents has received some eggs, of 

 the size and colour of those of the Common Thrush, {Tardus mustcus,) but spotted with 

 brown, instead of black. Now this spring I obtained from Walton, in Surrey, three eggs 

 resembling those above described, but blotched, not spotted, nearly all over with light rufous 

 brown, one of them most so at the smaller end. The blotches vary much in size, some of 

 them being very large for the size of the egg. Whilst staying last year at a village in Mid 

 Kent, four eggs were brought to me, which had been taken from a nest built in the hollow 

 of an old apple tree, .about three feet from the ground; they are somewhat less than those 

 of the Wryneck, but not of such a clear white; they are altogether without markings, except 

 one small spot on the side, near to the larger end, of a pale purple; one of them has a spot 

 somewhat darker than the others: their size is about that of a small pin's head. As I am 

 imacquainted with these, I shall feel obliged if any of your correspondents can give me 

 any information respecting them, through the medium of "The Naturalist." — N. Robson, 2, 

 Pier Head, London Docks, July 1853. 



In reply to Mr. Buckley's query, page 160, the eggs mentioned are most probably those of 

 the Missel Thrush, {Turdiis viscivorus ;) which I have seen in the nest, with the ground colour 

 very nearly like those of the Thrush, and with the usual reddish brown spots; their identity 

 could not be mistaken, as the bird was sitting, and allowed of a very near approach. — 



C. Jackson, East Looe, July 16th., 1853. 

 Can any of the numerous readers of "The Naturalist" say what becomes of tlie young 



Lobster and Crawfish, previous to their attaining a marketable size? Although the old ones 

 are commonly taken in spawn here, the young are never seen. — Idem. 



