130 CORRESPONDENCE. 



Petasites vulgaris, &c. — Can any of yonr readers explain why 

 Petasites vulgaris and other wild flowers, which blossomed during 

 Januai-y and February, near Oswestrjs Birmingham, and elsewhere, 

 should "not blossom until a month later in this neighbourhood, so much 

 farther south.— Observer, Stroud. 



Eats.— A rat being closely pursued by a cat, jumped from a garden 

 wall into the road and saved' itself by jumping betweou the spokes of 

 one of the wheels of a cart that at the time was passing at a good speed. 

 The cat being baulked for a moment till the cai-t passed gave the rat 

 time to escape. This was told me by a man living near Nottingham, 

 who saw the circumstance. — C. 



Pheasant and Pike. — I heard the following anecdote told by an 

 experienced fisherman, who pronounced it authentic. A party of gentle- 

 men were shooting over an estate, near Nottingham, close to the River 

 Trent. A jiheasant was wounded and fell in the river. A pike, which 

 must have been on the look out for some sort of prey, immediately 

 struck it, its teeth becoming so entangled in the feathers that it was 

 easily captured, with the pheasant held fast in its teeth. — C, Notting- 

 ham. 



Mosses. — It may be interesting to those readers of the "Midland 

 Naturahst" who study the mosses to know that I have recently found near 

 Kingswood,Warwickshire,amossuewtothecounty,Or</iO?r(t7(H)HZejoca)7Jwm, 

 Br. and Sch. In this station it occuis on the lower part of the trunks of 

 the Ontario poplar. In other parts of Great Britain this moss is some- 

 what plentiful, but in Warwickshire it is ai)parently vciy rare. I may 

 also state that I have also found, in abundance. Sphagnum auncuhitvm, 

 a veiy rare sphagnum, near Solihull ; hitherto I have only seen it in 

 Sutton Park. In this new "Warwickshire station it occurs on the borders 

 of drains in a small wood, in company with S. contortum. — J. E. Bagnall. 



Early Swallows. — Passing over Baginton Bridge on Sunday, April 

 7th, I saw about half a dozen swallows flying about over the water and 

 adjoining meadows. I watched them for a few minutes, but in the 

 course of a short time they disappeared. I recrossed the bridge later 

 in the day, but none were to be seen, and I have not seen one since. 

 The swallow usually returns to us about the 20th April, sometimes 

 one or two are seen earher, but I never before saw so large a party at 

 this early period. On the same day I heard the Chiffchafl' and the 

 WrjTieck. The former is generally the earhest aii-ival of our summer 

 birds, and is later than usual this season. — John Gulson, Coventry, 

 10th April, 1878. 



Prunella Vulgaris, "White Variety. — I do not know whether this 

 very pretty variety of the common Self-heal is auj^-hcre abundant. It 

 is but slightly mentioned by Syme, JEooker, or Babington. In this 

 neighbourhood it occurs in one locality only, an old pasture field on the 

 slope of a low ridge of boulder clay. But the large creamy-white flowers, 

 closely aggregated in short, blunt heads, and of which six or eight in a 

 head are often open at the same time, are much more elegant and showy 

 than the purple ones of the common form. I think it desei'ves to be 

 introduced into gardens, and I mean to try what cultivation will do for 

 it. The leaves are all narrower than those of the common form ; the 

 lower leaves oblong-lanceolate and toothed at the base, the upper ones 

 narrow and linear, some pinuatifid with linear segments, others merely 

 toothed, the teeth projecting at right angles from the blade. I should be 

 glad to hear of any other localities in which the white variety occurs, and 

 whether it corresponds with the above description. — F. T. Moix, Birstal 

 HiU, Leicester. 



