192 



THE NATURALIST. 



the road she'stopi^ed to look at me 

 until I nearly got to her, and then 

 off she went. When I got about 

 100 yards, from the nest, she flew 

 with great ease , on the top of the 

 hedge, and bade me good speed. I 

 had never before seen or heard of 

 the Yellow Hammer practising such 

 tricks. — J. PvANSoN, York. 



Nesting of the Missel Thrush. 

 (Turdus viscivorus.) — All Oologists 

 know that the nest of this bird is 

 bound round and round with long 

 roots, it is not however always content 

 with them, but often appropriates 

 costlier things. Two years ago a ser- 

 vant girl lost from the garden hedge 

 two pieces of lace, each about two 

 yards in length. About three weeks 

 after it was lost it was found woven 

 into the nest of a Missel Thrush in 

 the same garden. Sometime before 

 that, but in another village, a cam- 

 bric handkerchief was found woven 

 into the structure of another nest. 

 Mr. Thompson, in his valuable His- 

 tory of the birds of Ireland, puts on 

 record the loss of a cap and a yard 

 of lace, used for the same purpose. 

 John Eanson, York. 



Fecundity of the Burying Beetle 

 (Necrophorus vesplllo.j — One of our 

 half grown ducks having been acci- 

 dentally killed, it was thrown on 

 the manure heap, in the garden. In 

 the course of a fortnight, it was 



completely consumed by the lai'ves 

 of the Burying Beetle. Every bone 

 was perfectly cleaned, and the soft 

 parts of the quills were all con- 

 sumed. The straw in the manure 

 heap prevented the beetles from 

 burying the carcase, so that it was 

 fully exposed to view, and I exam- 

 ined it twice to see if I could discover 

 more than a pair, but I could not. 

 The number of grubs was truly as- 

 tonishing, the carcase swarmed with 

 them ; a naturalist friend thought 

 there would be nearly a pint of 

 them. — J. Eanson, York. 



Acidalia inornata. — 'I have eight 

 specimens of the above insect which 

 have come out this week from a 

 batch of eggs I got in the beginning 

 of last June. Is not this an unusual 

 time for its appearance ? The re- 

 maining larvae are about a quarter 

 of an inch long, and it appears to 

 me they will hybernate, if so, this 

 insect must be double brooded. — 

 Wm. Hicks, St. John's Road, Shef- 

 field, Sept., 28, 1864. 



Cleaning Skeletons. — Can any of 

 the readers of the " Naturalist " 

 inform me of any safe method 

 of cleaning and bleaching skele- 

 tons of animals, which have been 

 discoloured through exposure. — 

 W. H. C. 



