OBSERVATIONS. 



286 



acquiring any fresh ones, and re- 

 maining through the long cold 

 winter half naked ; if it had not heen 

 that my wife covered its cage with 

 a shawl it would have died with the 

 cold. When spring came its fea- 

 thers grew and it presented a more 

 respectable appearance. At present 

 it is rather ragged, but not to be 

 compared with what it was last win- 

 ter. A question arises from the 

 above — Does the Cuckoo acquire its 

 new feathers before or after its de- 

 parture from this country ? I am 

 inclined to the latter opinion as it 

 would not have time to acquire them 

 here its stay is so short. It is an 

 affectionate bird and not so deficient 

 in intelligence as some persons have 

 written ; for instance, it knows when 

 a knife or the meat is brought on the 

 table, and if we are feeding the other 

 birds it is quite anxious till it gets 

 some food itself. It can also dis- 

 tinguish between my wife and my- 

 self, paying the most attention to 

 her : it is generally very quiet, sit- 

 ting on its perch without stirring 

 for some time together, and if we 

 take it out of the cage and put it 

 before the fire it enjoys it exceed- 

 ingly. It has two remarkable pecu- 

 liarities, viz. : it very seldom drinks, 

 and I have never yet seen it asleep, 

 sometimes I have looked under the 

 shawl when all has been quiet, ex- 

 pecting to catch it napping, but 

 there it was with its great round 



eyes wide open and looking me full 

 in the face. It has never sung and 

 its only note so far is a kind of 

 squeak something like that of a 

 young magpie. — Percy Heaviside. 



DasypoUa Teinpll — Perhaps the 

 disciples of the net and the pin may 

 be a little gladdened to know that 

 some of our rarer Nocture, are at 

 least occasionally, to be met with 

 not very far from home. Among 

 these DasypoUa Tcmpli may be enu- 

 merated. Now Mr. Templi, and 

 his good lady likewise, are a little 

 queer in their own way, but this it 

 is said is natural to people of the 

 higher nature, so if this be the case 

 there is no ground for wonder, for 

 though like other beings they occupy 

 a dwelling place, it is situated in 

 somewhat an odd locality. I have 

 also read that there is no accounting 

 for people's tastes, and so with our 

 Noctua — for as its name imports, 

 it has to do with the stones, or, a 

 part for the whole, will bring us from 

 stones to buildings, among both 

 which the moth is at ease. Whether 

 it follows therefore the trade of the 

 mason, or aspires to the profession 

 of the priest, I cannot quite divine, 

 for I find it both in the quarry 

 and the church. But apart from 

 this, a two hours' hunt for D. Tem- 

 jjU is generally no joke, but on the 

 contrary a matter of real labour, and 

 has often called to my mind " the 



