1G6 MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 



On the 1st. of December of last year there appeared in the ^'Gardener's 

 Chronicle" an alarming account of the ravages of a Gall Nut on the oak 

 trees of the southern counties, more particularly Devon and Somerset. The 

 eastern part of Cornwall is also suffering from the same cause, but not to 

 such an extent as described by Sylvanus, the mischief as yet being confined 

 to the hedge-rows, where, in many instances, they are to be found in vast 

 abundance: our woods and coppices are not yet attacked. I have seen 

 with great pleasure, this spring, that the Galls have been attacked by 

 birds (I believe the Titmice,) for the sake of the grubs, and that thou- 

 sands on thousands have been so destroyed; indeed so much so as to 

 lead me to hope that a great check will be found by this means to their 

 further serious increase. I have sent two of the flies, [Cynips Qaercus,) 

 so says Sylvanus, which I procured from Galls some years since; they 

 are not set up as an Entomologist would like them, but perhaps if you 

 have not before seen any, they may be of interest to you. The Galls 

 are altogether different to the Galls of commerce, being perfectly round, 

 and only having a hard crust, the remainder being very like compressed 

 saw-dust, not of the dense structure of the Aleppo Gall. If you have not 

 seen specimens I should be glad to forward some to you. Our summer 

 birds are arriving; the Chiff-chaff as early as the 18th. of March, Whin- 

 chat on the 19th.; the first Willow Wren I heard was on Monday last. 

 Blackcap on Sunday. Peacock Butterflies are very abundant this spring. 

 A few Martins made their appearance yesterday. — Stephen Clogg, Looe, 

 in a letter to the Editor, April 17th., 1856. 



Ants. — Some days since in our greenhouse was discovered in an orange 

 tree, laden with blossom, a number of small black ants, rushing to the 

 top of the branches. No Aphides were there for them "to milk," and 

 the conjecture was, that the soft stems must be very attractive to these 

 little creatures; for upwards of a dozen buds were found with rough edges, 

 as if gnawed off by them, or punctured to extract the sap, which was the 

 cause of their ultimately falling off. On an adjoining plant were many ants 

 also, and as that was a very recent purchase, it is supposed the ants came 

 with it; hence their appearance on the orange-tree. It is a very interesting 

 sio^ht to watch how readily and hurriedly a troop of ants will disperse from 

 an object, when once an alarm has been given. It is very curious and 

 mysterious how they communicate their signals, for the moment one apprises 

 another, the chain seems to be continued, till all know it. Any information 

 on this matter would be highly interesting. I have met with an anecdote 

 in Bishop Colenso's "Ten Weeks in Natal," which shews the rapidity with 

 which an ant conveyed his will, or want, and how instantaneously it was 

 attended to. Many who read it will, doubtless, be familiar with scores of 

 similar illustrations; — "At the place where we off-saddled and bathed. 



