THE GOAT MOTH. 131 



which present themselves to my recollection. One is that of a House Sparrow 

 {Passer domesticus) placing its feather-bed inside an old Magpie's nest in a lofty 

 Elm tree at some distance from any house. When I saw it, the young birds 

 were scarcely fledged. In 1834 I found the nest of a Common Wren (Anortkura 

 troglodytes) in a very extraordinary situation. It was hanging by some small 

 rootlets under a projecting ledge, about thirty feet from the bottom of a precipice, 

 so that the slightest breeze would put it in considerable motion, as the roots by which 

 it was suspended were about a foot long. It was not, however, entirely finished 

 inside, the old birds finding it, I suppose, too insecure a cradle for their young. 

 I regret that I did not preserve it. The same year I also found another Wren's 

 nest, which was not lined at all, and yet there were four or five eggs in it, which 

 were warm when I first felt them, shewing that the old birds had made a virtue 

 of necessity. This, I think, is a very unusual occurrence* ; at least I do not re- 

 member another instance of it. Whether the eggs were hatched or not, I do not 

 know, as I left the place immediately afterwards. 

 Trinity College^ Dublin, Ap-il 19, 1837. 



ON THE CATERPILLAR OF THE GOAT MOTH. 



The habits of many of the larger Lepidoptera, from the comparative ease with 

 which they may for the most part be observed, have pretty generally attracted 

 the attention of those lovers of Nature who, nevertheless, cannot aspire to the 

 title of entomologists ; but who, with the example of the justly celebrated 

 White, of Selborne, notice and treasure up the facts which come within their 

 own individual observation, and by adding links to the chain of evidence 

 establish the statements of former more experienced and able writers on the 

 subject. And thus facts which, taken alone, may not perhaps be important 

 when applied to their legitimate and true use, viz., that of corroborating former 

 testimony, become not only so, but also contribute greatly to the pleasure of 

 those who, in a field of observation so well explored as the present, cannot hope 

 to add many new ones to the general stock. 



The following short account of a singular capability of the Goat Moth (Cossus 

 ligniperda) was written principally with the view of corroborating a fact with 



* According to our experience the nest of the Wren is not invariably lined with feathers, and 

 this, we conclude, is the lining alluded to by our correspondent. The lining of the structure is, of 

 course, the finishing operation, and in some cases birds are compelled to deposit their eggs previous 

 to the completion of the nest. A remarkable instance of this kind, in which a Thrush laid an egg 

 upon a small quantity of moss on the branch of a Pear tree, has been recorded elsewhere.— Ed. 

 No. 9, Vol. II. x 



