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noticed using these shells, and if the incidents do not show a high 

 intellect, they at least remind one of the old adage that peace and 

 war are intimately related. G. G. 



Peesistence. — A nest of a Sparrowhawk was found at Alkham 

 this spring. It was visited daily, and an egg removed until the large 

 number of ten had been secured, and yet the nest was not deserted. 

 Such an occurrence is, we believe, unprecedented, but more was to 

 follow, for a trap which had been placed within the nest, but not 

 securely fastened, was missing on the following morning. With 

 very little hope of success, but on the principle of nothing 

 venture nothing have, another was set, and next day the hawk 

 was found within it with the first trap still attached to its leg. 

 Such persistence in returning to the same spot must be most 

 unusual in birds of this tribe. [Communicated.] 



Ant Swaems. — It is a disputed point, whether or not the 

 winged ants, which in July or August swarm into the air from their 

 nests, return to their domiciles. Most authors consider that they do ; 

 M. Forel, on the other hand, maintains that only those females become 

 queens of the nest, which have not shared in the swarming and 

 which have become fertilized within or on the surface of the nest. 

 According to him the females which take part in the swarming 

 never return to the original home, but indeed show a dislike to it. 

 The turf of a garden in Dover, has for some years been infested 

 with both black and yellow ants, the hy menial flights of which 

 usually last for about a week. They rise in the morning from ten 

 o'clock until one, and descend later in the afternoon. In the 

 summer of 1893, these flights were closely watched, and were 

 seen to join other individuals in the air ; where they looked not 

 unlike a dark cloud, so numerous were they, almost as far as the 

 eye could reach. "Whether this was the commencement of a 

 migration is not known, but certainly none were seen to return to 

 the garden upon either day of swarming. They thus appeared to 

 favor M. Forel's observations. g -m- 



Loving Companions. — Anecdotes of dogs and cats, true and 

 untrue, have occupied the pages of magazines for the last hundred 

 years and more ; so we may be excused if we add one more to the 

 total. In a Surrey village this autumn we noticed a puppy and 

 kitten which, judging fi'om their demeanour, were upon terms of 

 great friendship, alternately playing and teasing one another. 

 A few days after, whilst the puppy was asleep in a basket, the 

 kitten approached, and ensconcing herself in a nook behind the 

 other's back, also betook herself to slumber. Upon awakening, 

 instead of proceeding with the usual cat toilet, she began to assist 

 in that of the puppy ; licking its face, head, and ears, instead of 

 her own, and rubbing them over with her licked paws in cat fashion. 



