924 



THE NATURALIST. 



I have noticed the following strange 

 occurrence. A tree having been cut 

 down in which some Tree Sparrows 

 had been in the habit of buildiog 

 for the last twenty years, a pair have 

 adapted themselves to circumstances 

 and built a large oval nest in a 

 hawthorn hedge, about twenty yards 

 from the place where the tree stood; 

 it contained three eggs. I found an 

 old nest of the same description in 

 the same hedge a few yards nearer 

 to the tree. I waited the return of 

 the birds lest I might confound it 

 with the House Sparrow the nest of 

 which it greatly resembled ; after 

 about an hour's waiting my patience 

 was rewarded by seeing the birds, 

 and one of them entered the nest so 

 that I was satisfied I had made no 

 mistake. — Joseph Chappell, 18, 

 Sheffield-St., Manchester. 



Acorns, &c. — Has any reader of 

 " The Naturalist" noticed the almost 

 total absence of acorns in particular 

 localities, this season ? I under- 

 stand that in Devonshire this fruit 

 has been unusually abundant, where- 

 as in the West and North of Cum- 

 berland, it is almost a total failure. 

 Being in want of a few I searched 

 trees on which in previous years I 

 had noticed abundance, in the West 

 of this county, and out of perhaps 

 hundreds of trees, I only found two 

 fruited, and they very thinly. The 

 same may be said of the oaks of 

 Gilsland, Lanercost, and Naworth. 



I may state that amongst the plants 

 I have gathered this season I found 

 large quantities of Allium Scorodo- 

 jjrasum, along the sides of the river 

 between Egremont and Lowmill. 

 Along the sandy margin of the river 

 Irthing, nearly opposite the sulphur 

 well at Gilsland, I found Carduus 

 heterophyllus (quite new to me in this 

 neighbourhood) along with Galium 

 horeale. — Lydia M. Pp.atten^ Egre- 

 mont, Whitehaven, Oct. 24, 1864. 



Preserviii cf Micro-Lepidoptera . — Will 

 any of your readers kindly inform 

 me of the best mode of setting and 

 preserving the minute moths ; such 

 as Argjjroniges and Microsetia ? — 

 J. E. Mason. 



I have a quantity of the following 

 Insects, in fine condition, which I 

 shall be glad to exchange ; — G. fia- 

 vago, N. Dahlii, E.fulvago, A. Aprili- 

 na, and A . pijramidea. Also a great 

 number of Land and Fresh Water 

 Shells. — George Lumb, Kirkgate, 

 Wakefield, Nov. 4th, 1864. 



I have good specimens of Eupi- 

 thecia dehiliata and Phihalapteryx 

 lignata which I shall be glad to ex- 

 change with Entomologists who are 

 in want of them ; amongst my most 

 immediate wants are bred specimens 

 of Tmiiocampa 2-)op)idetL. — C. Camp- 

 bell, 325, Eochdale-Road, Man- 

 chester, Nov. 5th, 1804. 



