SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



129 



parts are dull white, beautifully marked with 

 transverse bars of reddish brown. The irides are 

 bright orange, and the legs and feet, which are 

 very slender, are of a lemon yellow. 



The wings of the sparrow-hawk are comparatively 

 short, and they are rounded, or blunt as we might 

 term it. This formation of wing prevents it from 

 overtaking a quick-flying bird in a long chase, and 

 hence its stealthy habits when hunting its prey. 

 The contrast between the short round-winged 

 hawks and the sharp-winged ones which chase 

 their prey in the open is thus considerable. 



There are many ways of obtaining hawks, but 

 perhaps "hawk calling" is the most effective. 

 The call is made of two pieces of hard wood fitted 

 together, with a strip of thin birch bark between 

 them. 



When this little instrument is properly blown, it 



gives forth a sound very much like the cry of a 

 buzzard, which seems to attract hawks of all kinds. 

 Rising early, we have often gone to some small 

 hollow, and covering it with green boughs, have 

 crept underneath with our gun and call. Although 

 there was not a hawk in sight for miles around, yet 

 within five or ten m'inutes of our first call we catch 

 sight of one skimming by. Crouching motionless 

 we call again, and soon see the hawk alight on 

 a neighbouring tree. It is too far off for a shot, so 

 we wait patiently and give another cry. Others 

 now hove in sight, and it is not long before several 

 have fallen to our gun. But if we accidentally 

 make a false note or call, or incautiously raise our 

 head above the boughs, the hawks immediately 

 detect the trap and take to flight, not to be seen in 

 the same spot again that day. 

 1, Eliot Place, Blackheath. 



LARVAE-NYMPHS OF BRITISH DRAGON-FLIES. 



By W. H. Nunney. 

 (Continued from page 102.) 



PHE larvae-nymphs belonging to the sub-family 

 iEschninae may always be recognised by the 

 backward prolongation of the eyes and the trun- 

 cated central-piece of the tail-appendages. Above 

 the bases of the first pair of legs in the species of 

 this group are two small processes most useful in 

 identification. A day or two previous to the final 

 moult the colours of the about-to-be-disclosed imago 

 show through the nymph-skin, augmenting in 

 brilliance until the moment of change. 



AN AX imperii tor, by far the largest Briiish 

 species of the order, has the head broader than 

 long, with the eyes less prominent than in 

 i*Eschna ; the mask extends backwards beyond the 

 middle legs, the front border being produced in a 

 short rounded lobe, centrally cleft ; the large 

 abdomen is laterally spined on segments seven to 

 nine ; the caudal points are strong, sharp and 

 notched, the lateral ones but half the length of 

 the others, the middle one truncated. The female 

 valves are shorter than the segment upon which 

 they occur. The leg-base-processes are short, and 

 broad at the tips, the posterior being the larger ; 

 the cleft enclosed by them is a right angle. This 

 larva is local, confined to the South of England, 

 inhabiting ponds. 



BRACHYJRON pratense has the body long and 

 slender, the rather convex head is smaller than in 

 true i?Ischnae, and the occiput is shorter than in any 

 known species of the family. The centrally-cleft 

 front border of the mask forms an oblique outward 

 angle, the abdomen is long and narrow, spined 

 laterally on segments six to nine, the truncate 



G 3 



middle tail-appendage is somewhat shorter than 

 the lower ones, which are slightly longer than the 

 laterals. The male projection is conical ; the female 

 valves are shorter than the segment bearing them ; 

 the leg-base-processes are sharp, and but slightly 

 separated, the hinder process being half the length 

 of the anterior. The species is generally distributed. 

 In the genus JE&chna the eyes are much more 

 prominent than in either of the foregoing genera, 

 the body is long and stout, the head large, and the 

 legs longer than in Brachytron . In the known British 

 species of JEschna lateral spines occur on body 

 segments six to nine, and the front margin of mask 

 is toothless. The male projection is conical ; the 

 female valves reach the tip of the segment bearing 

 them, the lateral caudae are shorter than the 

 inferiors, the middle one having a rounded notch at 

 tip ; the species are much alike ; JE . cyanea is the 

 type. 



MSCHNA coluberculus has the hinder angles of 

 the head rounded, the mask is gradually enlarged 

 from its apical third, the leg-processes are equal 

 in length, slightly separated, and stout and blunt, 

 the anterior being the narrower. The lateral 

 caudal-appendages are about one-half the length 

 of the truncated middle piece ; whitish hairs occur 

 on the abdomen. This species is rare and almost 

 confined to the South. 



2E. juncea may be known by the anterior leg- 

 processes being half the length of the posterior. 

 This form is almost confined to the North. It is 

 generally distributed in Ireland. 



M. cyanea is perhaps the point du depart whence 



