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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ January 13, 1863. 



allegiance to their mated partners. One wild Duct particularly, 

 after breeding a couple of seasons with her own Mallard, at once 

 shook him off on my placing a dralce Pintail on the water. It 

 was evidently a case of lore at first sight, for she swam about 

 the new comer caressingly, though he appeared evidently alarmed 

 and averse to ber overtures of affections. Erom that hour she 

 fought her old partner. Winter passed by, and the next spring 

 the Pintail seemed to have become a convert to her blandish- 

 ments, for they nested and produced seven or eight young ones. 

 Six were ultimately reared, and, strangely, proved all drakes. 

 Thev were most curiously-marked "hybrids," having much of 

 the outline of the father— viz., the Pintail's bill, length of body, 

 dark legs, &c, but when moulted they all assumed the chestnut 

 crop of a true Mallard, and still more singularly, a triple row 

 of curled feathers in the tail ; the proper tail-feathers being also 

 much longer than a wild Mallard's. They were considerably 

 larger than either of their parents, but proved altogether hybrids, 

 never associating with their companions. At length, although 

 exceedingly beautiful, we parted with them.-— Edwd. Hewitt, 

 Sparkbrook, Birmingham. 



ASCERTAINING THE SEX OF GOSLINGS. 



At the late Birmingham Show I claimed from Mr. Manfield 

 the- first-prize pen of young white Geese. I exhibited them for 

 the first time at Manchester, when they were disqualified, two 

 if not all of them being ganders. Mr. Manfield also exhibited a 

 pen there, and it is rather a singular fact that they were dis- 

 qualified for the same reason. — J. MtJNN. 



[We know of no mode of ascertaining the sex of live young 

 Geese : therefore there is no delinquency in the above cases ; but 

 we think Mr. Manfield ought to let Mr. Munn have Geese in 

 exchange for the superfluous ganders. — Eds.] 



HYBRID BETWEEN THE COMMON PHEASANT 

 AND THE SILVER PHEASANT. 

 Having noticed a query on this subject in your last Number, 

 I write to inform you that a gentleman in this town has a stuffed 

 specimen of this hybrid, a male bird. It was shot some years 

 ago near Raby Castle, the seat of the Duke of Cleveland, where 

 some Silver Pheasants had been a short time before turned loose. 

 The plumage is certainly very beautiful, and (if it is possible to 

 judge from a stuffed bird), the size and shape are good. — C. P., 

 Darlington. 



Tot} are mistaken in saying that there has never been a cross 

 between the common and Silver Pheasant. There are several 

 places here, in Yorkshire, where they breed in the preserves 

 every year. The cross is generally a Pied variety ; but it is not 

 desired or highly prized by gamekeepers; they consider the birds 

 weak and tender, and not easily reared. In the " Zoological 

 Proceedings " of 1836, is mentioned a cross between the common 

 Pheasant and the Silver Pheasant, and between the common 

 Pheasant and the Golden Pheasant. — S. 



THE WARBLERS. 



I COME now to the migratory insect-feeding warblers, many 

 of which are our finest songsters. They arrive in spring, about 

 the 10th of April, when the first broods of caterpillars are being 

 hatched by the return of warm weather, and on them and the 

 larvae of other insects they raise their own broods; and, as 

 summer advances, insects of various kinds are added to their 

 bill of fare. They arrive in this country when insect life is first 

 awakening from the sleep of winter, stay with us while these 

 pests are active, and depart in autumn when tha colder nights 

 warn them their food will soon be less easy to procure. Thus 

 by an allwise decree they are sent to assist in checking that rapid 

 increase of insect life ; silently and almost unnoticed they spread 

 over the whole country doing their mission of good, to assist in 

 the protection of every crop. Yet I have said birds are not an 

 unmixed good, and truth compels me to eay that many, perhaps 

 nearly all, of these migratory insect-feeding birds do take tithe 



of the fruit which they have assisted in saving from utter destruc- 

 tion by insects. 



In enumerating the warblers, the Nightingale — the most 

 delightful of all songsters — must head the list ; second in the 

 choir comes the Blackcap, then the Garden Warbler, followed 

 by the Wood Wren, Willow Wren, Chiffehaff, Whitethroat, 

 Lesser Whitethroat, Wheatear, Redstart, Eurze Chat, Grass- 

 hopper Warbler, Reed Warbler, and Sedge Warbler. Each of 

 these birds has its favourite haunts and insect-food. Thus it 

 will be seen that they all contribute to the destruction of insect 

 pests ; nevertheless, it must not be forgotten that those that are 

 most active in the gardens and orchards, eating and keeping in 

 check the insects that would destroy the buds, blossom, leaves, 

 and fruit of the bushes and trees — as, for instance, the Black- 

 cap, Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, and Willow Wrens— are 

 just those that take most tithe of fruit for their pains. 



Gardeners, generally, are not well acquainted with the habits 

 of birds, nor do they often know all the species that visit their 

 gardens and plantations ; most of these are plain-coloured birds, 

 and by the unobservant may be passed by as Sparrows, or cer- 

 tainly under that all-including title— small birds. The object of 

 these papers is to awaken in gardeners a spirit of observation, 

 that they may learn how best to save their fruit. I do not deny 

 that small birds eat fruit. I am well aware that many are very 

 annoying in their attacks on various crops ; but then, if we are 

 to kill-off every bird that is in the least injurious, how shall we 

 save our crops from utter destruction from the increase of 

 insects? That birds do an immense amount of good is an 

 established fact, and without, them few crops can be depended 

 on ; that which I have always advocated is to save the birds as 

 our best friends and allies against the armies of insects that 

 would otherwise devastate our crops. At the same time, I 

 would endeavour, as far as possible, to protect the sown seeds 

 and rising crops, as well as the ripening seeds and fruit, from 

 their taking too heavy a tithe, or too high wages for their labour. 

 The case will Btand thus : The closer you kill-down the birds 

 the more troublesome will be the insects, and consequently the 

 smaller and smaller becomes the crop. But where the birds are 

 in full force so as to enable them, each sort, to keep in check their 

 favourite insect-food, then (weather permitting, for the birds 

 cannot alter the season) will the trees be enabled to produce 

 fruit, though the birds may claim a share if they are not kept 

 off at the proper time. Or, it amounts to this : Will you kill- 

 off the birds and preserve the insects that you may have no fruit 

 to be bothered about ? or will you save the birds to destroy the 

 insects, and so, taking the chance of the season, have a good 

 crop and some trouble to protect it? The question is, Is a 

 large crop worth that trouble ? — B. P. Brent. 



BEE SEASONS IN SURREY. 



Having- taken great interest in, and derived much instruction 

 from, the communications on bee-keeping furnished by various 

 of your contributors, I feel pleasure in Bending you an account 

 of my experience in bee-keeping during the seasons of 1861-2, 

 in this part of the country (southern part of West Surrey). 

 Both seasons have been bad, particularly the latter year. 



I keep my hives in houses, made to hold six in two tiers. I 

 began the season of 1861 with Bix stocks, of which two gave out 

 three swarms each, three others gave one swarm each, and one 

 stock did not swarm — nine swarms altogether. 



Wishing to increase the number of my stocks, I hived them 

 all separately. The first swarm came off on the 4th June ; the 

 next Bwarm from another hive came out June 13th. Up to 

 this time not a drone was seen to come from any of my hives. 

 The next day I saw two or three drones come from the hive that 

 swarmed June 4th, ten days after the swarm ; and again drones 

 did not issue from the hive that swarmed June 13th until ten 

 days after the swarm. I think that very late for drones to make 

 their appearance. Both these hives gave three swarms each ; 

 after Which I placed a small glass on one of them, and took 

 about 3 lbs. of honey. Erom the two first swarmB of these stocks 

 I also took small glass superB of honey. Of the two second 

 swarms or casts one did very well, the other not so well and it 

 died last winter, but not for want of food. Of the two tliird 

 swarms (or colts, or smarts, as some people call them), which 

 are said by some not to be worth keeping by themselves, both 

 did very well, one of them becoming in the autumn the strongest 

 of all my hives; Indeed, the bees were clustered outside so 



