MISCELLANY. 491 



death. Mr. Stedman says that the Africans eat these Ants (roasted) by hand- 

 fuls, and several Europeans have declared that they are delicious — like sugared 

 cream or a paste of sweet almonds. Locusts are eaten in almost all the countries 

 where they appear, either dried, pounded with milk, ground with flour and 

 baked into cakes, or made into soup. — Asiatic Journal. 



The Garden Ouzel crowing like a Cock. — The circumstance of the Garden 

 Ouzel (or " blackbird ") having been known to crow like a cock, has excited con- 

 siderable curiosity and speculation. Theoretically, we should say that the species 

 has an amply-developed faculty of Imitation, and that the notes are by no means 

 original, but are obtained from the constant crowing of Cocks near the haunts of 

 these birds. Our own observation unquestionably tends to confirm this view of 

 the question. Thus we have known Garden Ouzels imitate the various shades 

 of crowing or cackling of the Dunghill, Game, or Bantam Fowls. Where the 

 favourite quarters of these birds are in the immediate vicinity of sequestered 

 farms, is the best place for noticing the cackling of the " blackbirds "; and the 

 circumstance of our having known the latter almost immediately confine them- 

 selves to their natural notes when the Fowls were removed from a spot similar to 

 that of which we are speaking, in our opinion at once settles the point in dis- 

 pute. — Ed. 



Crambus argyreus. — Very fine dark specimens of this insect may be had on 

 Parley Heath and near Lyndhurst, from July 3 to August 26. Other varieties 

 occur in different localities, one even within a mile, in Clover fields, and others 

 running more yellow elsewhere, as at Whittlesea Mere, Gambingay Heath, &c, 

 near Bedford, Dover, and other places. — J. C. Dale, Glanville's Wootton, Dorset- 

 shire, July 9, 1837. 



Crambus margaritellus. — Schichallion, Loch Ranock, Craig Cailleach, Winan- 

 dermer'e, July 11 to Aug. 26. Near Birmingham, Mr. Weaver; Beachamwell, 

 Norfolk, June, 1823, Mr. Haworth. In a garden at Brightwell, Berkshire, Rev. 

 R. Burney ; also Thome Moor, July, 1837. — Id. 



Number of Eggs of the Starling. — I have repeatedly found seven eggs in 

 the nest of the Starling ; and I think (though I cannot say positively, having no 

 memorandum by me) that I have known this number exceeded. At any rate I 

 consider seven the more usual number. — J. D. Salmon, Thetford, Norfolk, July 

 23, 1836. [In the British Song Birds we stated the number of eggs to be " four 

 or five "; but we believe Mr. Salmon is right. In this particular we suspect that 

 — contrary to our usual custom — we spoke rather from closet knowledge than 

 from a comparison of our private notes and observation in the fields. — Ed.] 



Eggs of the Wood Lark (Alauda arborea, Linn.). — I have never been able 

 to meet with the eggs of the Wood Lark ; they are, consequently, desiderata in 

 my collection.— J. D. Salmon, Thetford, Norfolk, Jidy 28, 1836. 



