BIRD'S BILL 



116 



BLACK FLEA 



FRUIT-EATING BIRDS, WHICH ALSO FEED ON INSECTS. 



In this list are the black-cap, babillard (Curruca 

 garrula), the garden warbler, the whitethroat, the missel- 

 thrush, the song-thrush, the blackbird, and the starling. 



DECIDEDLY DESTRUCTIVE BIRDS. 

 The greater portion of those to be enumerated are 

 exclusively grain-eaters, and make no return for their 

 depredations by destroying insects, though they no doubt 

 contribute to keep down the diffusion of weeds by the 

 quantity of seeds which they devour. The goldfinch, the 

 yellow-hammer, the cirl-bunting, the reed-bunting, the 

 corn-bunting, the skylark, the woodlark, the linnet, the 

 chaffinch, the mountain-finch, the bullfinch, the house- 

 sparrow, and the tree-sparrow. 



BIRD'S BILL. Trigone'lla ornithopodioi'des. 

 BIRD'S EYE. Pri'mula farino'sa. 



BIRD'S FOOT. Orni'thopus and Eupho'rbia Orni'tho- 

 pus. 



BIRD'S-FOOT FERN. Pella'a Orni'thopus. 

 BIRD'S-FOOT TREFOIL. Lo'tus. 

 BIRD'S NEST. Asple'nium Ni'dus. 

 BIRD'S TONGUE. Ornithoglo'ssum. 

 BIRTHWORT. Aristolo' chia. 



BISCUTE'LLA. Buckler Mustard. (From bis, double, 

 or twice, and scutella, a saucer ; in reference to the 

 shape of the seed-vessel when bursting. Nat. ord. 

 Crucifers [Cruciferae]. Linn. i^-Tetr adynamia. Allied 

 to Thlaspi, or Candytuft.) 



All hardy. The annuals, by seed in March ; the 

 perennials, by division, or as early as weather permits 

 in spring. Common soil. 



PERENNIALS. 

 B. ambi'gua (doubtful). See B. L^JVIGATA. 



,, coronopifo'lia (buckthorn-leaved). See B. L^JVIGATA. 



di'dyma (didymous). i. Yellow. July. Mediter- 

 ranean Region. 1822. 



Iczviga'ta (smooth-podded), i. Yellow. June. Italy 

 1777- 



,, ,, alpe'stris (alpine), i. Yellow. June. Hungary. 

 1816. 



longifo'lia (long-leaved). Switzerland. 1832. 



,, longifo'lia (long-leaved). See B. L^EVIGATA LONGIFOLIA. 



monta'na (mountain). See B. L^EVIGATA. 



,, raphanifdlia (radish-leaved). See B. DIDYMA. 



,, saxa'tilis (rock). See B. L^VIGATA. 



,, sempervi'rens (evergreen), i. Yellow. June. Spain. 

 1784. 



stenophy'lla (narrow-leaved). See B. LJEVIGATA. 



ANNUALS. 



B. cilia'ta (hair-fringed), i. Yellow. June. South of 



France. 1820. 



, Colu'mncz (Columna's). See B. DIDYMA. 

 , depre'ssa (depressed). See B. DIDYMA. 

 , lyra'ta (lyre-leaved). See B. DIDYMA. 

 , mari'tima (sea). See B. DIDYMA. 

 , obova'ta (reversed-egg-shaped). i. Yellow. June. 



Europe. 1817. 



BISE'RRULA. Hatchet Vetch. (From bis twice, 

 and serrula, a saw ; in reference to the seed-pods being 

 armed with teeth. Nat. ord. Leguminous Plants [Legu- 

 mmosae]. Linn. i^-Diadelphia, -Decandria. Allied to 

 Astragalus.) 



Hardy annual. Seeds in April or September. Sandy 

 soil. 



B. Pele'cinus (bast&rd-corn-weed). i. Purple. July. 

 S. Europe. 1640. 



BISMA'RCKIA. (Named after Prince Bismarck. 

 Nat. ord. Palms [Palmae]. Allied to Borassus Aabellifer. 

 For cultivation, see PALMS.) 

 B. no'bilis. Madagascar. 



BITTER ALMOND. Pru'nus Amy'gdalus ama'ra. 



BITTER APPLE. Cu'cumis Colocy'nthis. 



BITTER OAK. Que'rcus Ce'rris. 



BITTER-SWEET. Sola'num Dulcama'ra. 

 BITTER VETCH. O'robus. 

 BITTER WOOD. Xylo'pia. 



BIVON^E'A. (After A, Bivona Bernardi, a professor 

 of botany in Sicily. Nat. ord. Crucifers [Crucifers]. 

 Linn. i^-Tetradynamia. Allied to Lepidium.) 



Hardy annual. Seeds ; common soil. 



B. lu'tea (yellow), . Yellow. June. Italy. 1824. 



BI'XA. Arnotta. (Its native name in S. America. 

 Nat. ord Bixads [Bixineae]. Linn. i^-Polyandria, 

 i-Monogynia.) 



The reddish pulp which surrounds the seeds of B. 

 Orella'na is the Arnotta or Arnatto of commerce, used 

 in the preparation of chocolate, and by farmers for 

 colouring cheese, and also by dyers for a reddish colour. 

 Stove evergreen trees. Cuttings of half-ripened shoots 

 in sand, in close heated propagating pit ; lumpy peat 

 and loam. Summer temp., 65 to 85 ; winter, 50 

 to 60. 



B. Orella'na (Orellana). 20. Pink. June. W. Ind. 



1690. 

 ,, purpu'rea (purple). 20. Purple. July. E. Ind. 



1817. 

 ,, urucura'na (Urucu). See B. ORELLANA. 



BIZARRE. See CARNATION. 



BLACK ADIANTUM. A sple'nium A dia'ntum-ni'grum. 



BLACK ARCH-MOTH. See PSILU'RA MONA'CHA. 



BLACK BRYONY. Ta'mus commu'nis. Poisonous 

 weeds, which need not be further noticed. 



BLACK BULLACE. Pru'nus insiti'tia. 



BLACKBU'RNIA. (Named after Mr. Blackburn. 

 Nat. ord. Zanthoxyls [Rutaceae]. Linn. ^-Tetrandria, 

 I'Monogynia.) 



Greenhouse evergreen shrub. Cuttings of half-ripe 

 shoots in sand, under a bell-glass, in April ; also by 

 layers, in autumn ; peat and loam, both fibrous and 

 sandy. Summer temp., 55 to 75 ; winter, 40 to 45. 



B. pinna' ta (leafleted). See ZANTHO'XYLUM BLACK- 

 BU'RNIA. 



BLACK CATERPILLAR. See ATHA'LIA SPINA'RUM. 



BLACK FLEA. (Ha'ltica memo'rum.) No insect is 

 more insidious or more sweeping in the destruction it 

 brings upon some of the farmers' or gardeners' crops 

 than the turnip-flea (Haltica nemorum). Turnips of all 

 kinds, beetroot, mangold-wurzel, radishes, and flax, are 

 all liable to be destroyed by this insect. It is a singular 

 misapplication of terms, that this insect is known among 

 cultivators of the soil as the black and the turnip flea 

 or fly, none of them ever calling it a beetle, which it 

 really is ; and the most descriptive name is the turnip- 

 flea beetle, for this describes not only its real nature, 

 but its favourite food, and its extraordinary power of 

 skipping or leaping like the common flea. This insect 

 is represented in our drawing of its natural size and 

 magnified. The body, one-eighth of an inch long, is 

 rather flattened, and of a brassy-black colour, thickly 

 dotted ; the wing cases are greenish-black, with a pale- 

 yellow, broad line on each ; the base of the feelers 

 (antenna?) and the legs are pale clay-coloured. The eggs 

 are laid on the under side of the rough leaf of the turnip 

 from April to September. They hatch in two days. 

 Their maggots live between the two skins or cuticles of 

 the rough leaf, and arrive at maturity in sixteen days. 

 The chrysalis is buried just beneath the surface of the 

 earth, where it remains about a fortnight. The beetles 

 are torpid through the winter, and revive in the spring, 

 when they destroy the two first or seed leaves of the 

 young turnip. There are five or six broods in a season. 

 These insects are most to be feared in fine seasons. 

 Heavy rains, cold springs, and long droughts destroy 

 them. Their scent is very perfect : the beetles fly against 

 the wind, and are attracted from a distance. The rapid 

 growth of a plant is the best security against them ; to 

 secure which, sow plenty of seed, all of the same age. 

 Burning the surface of the land is beneficial, by destroy- 

 ing the chrysalides. Deep digging is an excellent prac- 

 tice when the chrysalides are in the soil. Drilling is a 



