THE RETROSPECT. 207 



Carious fact. — On the night of the 18th, instant, while examining the sallows with a lamp, I 

 captured rather a curious looking pair in copula, which proved to be a (^' Taniocain2)a cruda, 

 and & ^ T. rubricosa. 1 kept the V for a few days, with the hope of getting eggs, but 

 without success. — W. Thompson, Crewe, April 23rd., 1853. 



The DeatKs Head, (Acherontia atropos,) at Marshe. — I have to record the capture of a fine 

 female specimen of the Death's Head Hawk Moth at Marske Hall, by Lady Margaret Yeoman, 

 It contained numerous eggs; I counted sixty-three, but there were probably more. — D. Ferguson, 

 Eodcar, August 13th., 1853. 



Vanessa Urticro. — I obtained a specimen of this common Vanessa on the 8th. of March, in 



its imago state, in one of our class rooms: this is the earliest that ever I saw it. — James 

 Taylor, Pitmixton, Aberdeen, March 3rd., 1853. 



It had probably hybernated.— B. E. M. 



Natica helicoides. — I obtained a specimen of this rare shell at the Cove, a fishing" station, 

 about three miles from Aberdeen, in 1849, which is the same as that found fossil by Sir 

 C. Lyell, in the Norwich Crag, and figured in his paper on the Fresh Water Deposits of Eastern 

 Norfolk. It has been described by Dr. Johnstone, as well as Sir C. Lyell, as Natica helicoides, 

 although it in appearance has a resemblance to the genus Bythinia or Paludina. Another instance 

 of its occurrence recently, is that mentioned by Mr. Jeffreys, who found a specimen in Lerwick 

 Sound, while dredging there; and one by the late Dr. Macgillivray. — Idem. 



Flustra Murryana. — A specimen of this beautiful and somewhat rare Zoophyte was found 

 on the beach at Aberdeen during the last storm, by Mr. Clark, Old Aberdeen. — Idem. 



A new habitat for Physospermum Cornubiense, (I>. C. J— The discovery of a rare and local 

 plant, in a locality where it has not been before noticed, must always be interesting to the 

 lovers of Botany, particularly to those who study [the local distribution of plants. Some of the 

 readers of "The Naturalist" will, no doubt, be interested to learn that I gathered it in a' wood 

 called the Clether, on the Cornish side of the Tamar, on the lith. instant. At the old station 

 on the Devonshire side I saw but one specimen in flower. This is interesting in a Botanical 

 point, for the plant was reported to have been lost, on account of some agricultural improvements 

 that had taken place, but not looked upon as such by the Botanists of the neighbourhood. I 

 saw plenty of roots around, although not in flower. Sypericum linear if olium, (Vahl.,) and 

 Asplenimn lanceolatum, (Huds.,) were very fine; I gathered specimens of the latter with fronds 

 measuring twenty inches in length. — J. Banker, Plymouth, July 21st., 1853. 



CljB lUtrnsjiEt. 



Cuckoo V. Wagtail. — In vol. ii, page 20, of "The Naturalist," a coiTespondent, in a note 

 headed "Curious freak of the Pied Wagtail," mentions having had a nest of the Redstart, 

 {Phmnicura ruticilla,) brought to him, containing an egg of the Pied Wagtail, {Motacilla 

 Yarrellii.) I venture to ask this correspondent, through the medium of your pages, and I 

 trust he will not consider my doing so offensive, whether the cg^ of the Cuckoo, {Citculus 

 canorus,) in its different varieties, is perfectly familiar to him.'' and whether he paid sufficient 

 attention to the size of the e^g in question, to be able to pronounce with certainty as to its 

 being the production of a Pied Wagtail, and not that of a Cuckoo.-' for otherwise I would 

 suggest that it was far more likely to have been produced by a bird of the latter species. 

 The egg of the Cuckoo, be it observed, is not much larger than a full-sized Pied Wagtail's 

 egg; and in one of its varieties — I have, amongst others, this same variety in my own col- 

 lection — so closely resembles it in colour and markings, that a casual observer, who paid 

 but little regard to a slight disparity in size, might readily mistake one for the other. The 

 nest of the lledstart too, if favourably situated, would be extremely likely to be selected bj- 

 the Cuckoo, as a fit and proper receptacle for its egg. —Stephen Stone, Brighthampton, near 

 Witney, May 26th., 1853. 



Heterogena asellus. — At page 263, vol. ii, of "The Naturalist," there is a communication 

 headed "Captures of Lepidoptera," by E. S. Edleston, Esq.; respecting the communication 

 it appears to me there is only one species in the list captured by himself. I did hope 



