: : : 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



M^t/i 



tt> 'if 



JtifcM 1 



ZOOLOGY 



r ^ -» ■ — ■ — - ^ V / 



ve and in 

 p for it in 



-ots do to 



. helal 

 ^vhilst 

 a :'=• ' 

 eaten, 



Y: v. ;- 



- .•_..._■_. 



Lin ^ have winter tat :: fears 

 :iie least irtineniente. — i-~ IT" 



— Ssme time l, : I : i aha: ha: 



nest ::' sakkaihes — ft ur rite 



twt weeks ilf They '-'-- '--- 



her. :ne stnrtea tlaymr with a 



-an-meh lina :; tnree-e:_ hths 



surprise, swallowed it; it died 



r later. Number two lost the 



id I had ta destroy it. Number 



Number tkur is alive and turns 



kef shrike 1: : ::'.' ' 1 a 



I: is very :am e. aaf a: es v el! :n 



- wtrm s I shtulf mentitn that 



: a: :n hemtr-seef ana treaa 



i :: mve them ;ne rieae a: raw 



= the - , an hfer the tula n:t 



g Dtrn-vt... _ : -tn- svm.ew anvtntnv 

 > in its wav It is very amusing, and 

 fond of a bath. It is like a young 

 mischief: if it sees me lay anything 



make t± nth it I shall ee aleasea 



:t see it. I am verv anxitns tt keen it 



tna: aeeaa-tertneeir_s tametnt: m~. z t ssessttn, 

 1 saw they ere n:t aullukathes tat it * as a lane 

 time before their true character was discovered. — 

 Sydney Bonny, 431 V gslat fl ad,N.E 5." 



: : : _ 



Piebald Sparrows. — This summer, a pair of 

 sparrows, Pa:: built a beautifully 



domed nest on the sill of a window belonging to 

 the prison hospital here. The nest was simply 

 laid on the sill with no supports except at the base, 

 and resembled in general shape that of the willow 



ten The entrance was towards the window, 

 and standing in the room it was possible to look 

 into the nest. The male sparrow had a white tail 

 and several white feathers in each wing. I 

 intended getting a photograph of the nest, but 

 unfortunately it was aestrtyef luring ran: _ 

 operations. — /. A Whddon, H.M. Pt . L 



Goldfish breeding in a small Ao.uaricm.— 

 For nearly thirty years I have had an aquarium 

 twenty inches long by fourteen inches wide. Last 

 year it was well stocked with growing plants, 

 VaUisneria spiralis, and two goldfish, also some 

 water snails, Plan : cornet : In July I noticed a 

 few small fish swimming about ; as this had never 

 occurred before, and no spawn had been seen, I 

 was mnah surprise f They sa:n irtreasef in site. 

 some growing slowly whilst others grew rapih; 

 till the ia:ae:t as many times tne tall: tt the 

 smallest they prafualh/ disappeared, I supptse 

 swallowed by their unnatural parents, until only 

 one was left which is still a vigorous fish. This 

 yea" I have watched m : re closely, with this result : 

 on the 1 2th of August the fish appeared very much 

 perturbed, swimming about violently and rubbing 

 together. On the morning of the 13th, a number 

 of eggs about the size of small saeo were observed 

 stitkinp tt the plants ana mass. In traler tt give 

 them a better c h a n ce by varying the conditions, I 

 gave some of the leaves, with eggs adhering, to a 

 brother who had a tank with growing plants ana 

 water-snails but t: fish ; some to a friend who put 

 them into a large-necked bottle with growing 

 plants ana water-snails ana s:me I rat inti ah.as = 

 jar with water only. On the 17th, the first fish 

 apaearef in the kittle with water tnly ; in the 

 three other cases the eggs have disappeared, but 

 no fish have been seen, probably the}" were eaten 

 by the snails. — P. H It tt, Kcnshigtcn Plaa, 

 1 ghtm 



SUPPOSEE VAR. 17 ITina-E [OR TrITOM CRIS- 



tatus. — Mr. Barber's note on page 1 1- artusef my 

 curiosity, and in response to my application he 

 very kincuy sent me a specimen. It was quite clear 

 it could not be referred t: cristatus; the yellow- 

 marks on the legs nit rings, for the\" were on the 

 upper side only) were almost sufficient to indicate 

 that In affititr. hi e er there as a fifth-rente 

 in the general build, and when a da}* or two later 

 the creature shed its skin and appeared in a new 

 one lightly mottled with yellow on the back and 

 the crest, I had a strtrg suspicion that the specimen 

 had closer affinitv with Salamandra maculosa, the 

 terrestrial salamander of the Continent. Not 

 having any personal experience of the young of 

 this species, I have to-day shown it to Mr. G. A. 

 Boulenger, of the British Museum, who entirely 

 confirms nry opinion. But Mr. Barber must be 

 mistaken in supposing this to be one of the results 

 it the newt-spawn he received from Thirsk, for 

 the salamander is viviparous and lays no ens 

 Probably he has an adult female sala m a n der in his 

 vivarium which gave birth to a batch of young soor 

 after he received the re- m-spawn, and the latter 

 mav never have hatched through infertility no 

 other cause. — E 5.:.Z'.: SepU igi -1- 



