SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



161 



Mercury. 



Venus 



Jupiter 



Saturn 



Uranus 



Neptune 



Full 

 New 



Aug. 5 





Rises 



Sets. 



Positio 



1 at Noon. 





h.m. 



h.m. 



R.A. 



Dec. 



1895. 



A.M. 



P.M. 



h.m. 





Aug. 1 



... 4-25 • 



.. 7-47 ■ 



. 8.46 ... 



1 8° a'N. 



ii 11 



... 4.4O . 



.. 7-30 . 



. 9-24 - 



15" i7' 



„ 21 



1 



... 4.56 . 



Soutlis. 



P.M. 



... 9-9 • 

 Rises. 



P.M. 



.. 7.10 . 

 Sets. 



P.M. 

 . 12.21 



Souths. 



A.M. 



. 10. ij ... 



12° 8' 



„ 8 



... S.35 • 



. 2.29 







.. 15 



... 10.53 . 

 Souths. 



P.M. 



. 8.1 

 Sets. 



P.M. 







>> 22 



... 1.48 . 

 Rises. 



A.M. 



.. 7-47 

 Souths. 



A.M. 







.. 9 



... 3.44 



• • 11.35 • 



. 8.42 ... 



19 38' N. 



19 



- 4-57 



.. 12.13 • 



. 10.3 ... 



13° 5°' 



„ 29 



... 6.7 

 Souths 



P.M. 



• • 12-43 • 



. Sets. 



P.M. 



. 11. 13 ... 



6 C 20' 



» 9 



... 2.35 



.. 8.3O . 



.. 11.47 •■ 



i° 53' S 



„ 19 



... 2.10 



.. 746 • 



. 12. 1 ... 



5° 21' 



,, 29 



... 1.34 



• • 6. 5 g . 



. 12.4 ... 



7 42' 



.. 9 



... 1.26 



.. 8.20 . 



.. 10.37 ••• 



9 50' N 



,, 19 



... 1. 10 



- 7-5i • 



. 11. 1 ... 



7° 23' 



„ 29 



... 0.54 

 Rises. 



A.M. 



.. 7-28 . 

 Souths. 



A.M. 



.. 11.24 ... 



4° 50' 



.. 9 



... 2.29 



.. 22.32 . 



.. 746 ... 



21° 26' N 



,, 29 



••■ 13-33 

 Soutlis. 



P.M. 



.. 21.31 . 



Sets. 



P.M. 



.. 8.4 ... 



20° 40' 



.. 9 



... 4-49 



.. 10.3 



.. 14. 1 ... 



9° 49' S 



>. 29 



- 3-36 



.. 8.47 . 



. 14.6 ... 



10° 22' 



„ 29 



... 4.26 

 Rises. 



P.M. 



.. 9.2 . 



Souths. 



A.M. 



.. 14.56 ... 



16 27" S 



,, 29 



... IO.32 



Moon's 



.. 18.35 . 



Phases 



. 5-8 ... 



21° 28' N 



5 »■ i- 



51 p.m. 



LastQr.... 



Aug. 13 . 



. 5.19 p.m 



20 ... 



56 a.m. 



1st Qr. ... 



» 27 • 



. 5.43 a.m 



There will be a very important shower of 

 meteors this month, the Perseids appearing on the 

 10th. The radiant point is a 45 8 + 57 . 



The sun-spot record at Greenwich during 1S94, 

 indicates a slight falling off of the mean daily 

 spotted area compared with 1893. In the earlier 

 months of this year there was a further reduction 

 of both area and number of spots. 



A proposal has been made to erect in the park 

 at Greenwich, in connection with the Observatory, 

 a special building to be used for a magnetic 

 observatory, for the determination of the magnetic 

 elements. As this will not be a large undertaking it 

 is nearly certain to be carried out. It will be a 

 work of some importance. 



The progress of the Astrographic Chart at the 

 Royal Observatory, Greenwich, appears from the 

 Report of the Astronomer Royal to be considerable 

 during 1S94-95. The number of fields successfully 

 photographed during the year amount to 90 for the 

 chart, and 1S0 for the catalogue. These bring up 

 the totals since the commencement of the work to 

 617 for the catalogue and 422 for the chart. 



Curious Nesting of Birds. — A new railway is 

 in process of construction through Tuxford, the 

 " overland " or temporary line of rails having been 

 laid for the use of the engines and trucks employed 

 on the work. Beneath one of these rails a pair of 

 wagtails (Motacilla lugubris) built their nest, and 

 have reared their brood, in no way disturbed by 

 the numerous trains which daily passed over the line. 

 The birds and their nest were under the protection 

 of the workmen. Another curious instance is that 

 of a blackbird which laid her eggs in a natural 

 cavity between the roots of a larch in Clumber 

 Park, no attempt at nest-making or lining having 

 been made. On June 9th the cavity contained two 

 young birds and two eggs. The bird has fre- 

 quently been seen by those living near the spot. — 

 W. A. Gain, Tuxford, Newark; July 8th, 1895. 



Note of Female Cuckoo. — Whilst glancing at 

 the naturalist's column of the Field, page 8iS, on 

 June 9th, 1894, I observed a note by W. H. Tuck, 

 calling attention to the cry of the female cuckoo, it 

 being a sort of bubbling sound, or like a noise of 

 water being poured from a bottle. I have, 

 however, heard just as much cuckooing as 

 " bubbling," and as it is supposed cuckoos do not 

 go in pairs, but singly, I take it that the female 

 bird is also capable of cuckooing, which Mr. Tuck 

 does not think to be the case. Personally, I have 

 always thought the bubbling noise a sort of 

 cackling, as a hen will, after she has laid an egg. — 

 H. Mead-Briggs, 37, Nunnery Fields, Canterbury. 



Cuckoo's Eggs. — Since I sent my note respecting 

 the cuckoo to Science-Gossip, in June, 1S93, 1 have 

 collected several interesting facts about this bird, 

 who appears to me to select its dupes at random- 

 In 1894, seventeen eggs were found in this village, 

 chiefly in roadside hedges. The nests were of 

 hedge-sparrow (10), robin (1), wagtail (2), yellow- 

 bunting (1), linnet (1), greenfinch (1), shrike (1). 

 The dates were from May 19th to June 27th. This 

 year, at the time I write, fourteen eggs have been 

 found, the first May 9th. The nests were willow- 

 warbler (1), hedge-sparrow (4), sedge-warbler (2), 

 yellow-bunting(3), wagtail (2), spotted fly-catcher(i), 

 greenfinch (1). Several eggs, both seasons, were 

 evidently laid by the same bird. In the case of the 

 fly-catcher, I was watching a nest with four eggs 

 in a fruit-tree on a wall ; a boy took the nest out. 

 which I carefully replaced ; next morning, the 

 cuckoo had taken out two of the eggs and intro- 

 duced her own. The case of the greenfinch is still 

 more extraordinary, which is clearly turning the 

 tables and duping" the bird. My brother put a 

 deserted greenfinch's nest, with two eggs, in an ivy- 

 wall, where the cuckoo had laid in the wagtail's 

 nest the last two seasons, and, next morning, an 

 egg was found in it. I believe that this circumstance 

 has not before been recorded in Britain, although 

 Herr Baldamus, in his " Naumannia,'' mentions 

 a similar case.— IF. H. Tuck, Tostock, Bury St. 

 Edmunds; June 22nd, 1S95. 



