SC/EA'CE-GOSS/P. 



Ill colour the Inrvsie pirtiike of a dirty white, 

 with the head, thorax, and legs of a warm reddish- 

 lirown hue ; but later, on heconiinu more fully 

 developed, when they attain a lenplh of an inch an<l 

 a half, the alidimien (generally present> a hhiisli or 

 leaden appearance. In Sweden the peasants entertain 

 u curious belief that from this circumstance can be 

 divined the approximate severity of the appmaching 

 winter. If the larva be of a blue coloration, mild 

 weather may be expected ; but if on the contrary the 

 grub lie white, then will the winter be long and 

 severe. They even venture into some detail in the 

 matter, for De Ceer (iv. 275) tells us that if the 

 anterior pan of the Hcmarkelse-mask (prognostic- 

 worm) lie white and the posterior blue which is 

 more likely to be the case than the reverse -the cold 

 will be more intense at the beginning than towards 

 the end of the winter. This change of colinir is due 

 to food. The outer skin i>f the cockchafer grub is 

 somewhat transparent, so that when the abdomen is 

 full the food, indistinctly seen through the body-wall, 

 gives the larva a leaden or bluish appearance; whereas, 

 should the animal have fallen upon hard times, its 

 posterior portion is correspomlingly both lighttr in 

 colour and less distended than is usually the case. 



Cockchafer grubs ate known in many parts of this 

 kingdom as *• while-worm," and where abundant to 

 any degree do considerable damage by devouring 

 the roots of cum, grass, anil other crops ; for. possess- 

 ing insatiable appetites and strong jaws and digestive 

 apparatus, during the three or four seasons which 

 ihey pass in the larval condition (') they are capable 

 of consuming an astonishing amount of food. At the 

 end of e.ich succeeding summer they burrow down to 

 a considerable depth below the surface of the ground, 

 where they repose in comparative safety until the 

 returning power of the sun in spring-time begins to 

 warm the soil above, when they again ascend and 

 renew their attack upon the young rootlets of w hatever 

 kind chances to come w ithin their reach. They are 

 unable to stand severe cold, and late frosts in April 

 and May will often surprise and kill vast numbers of 

 them. 



Of foes, in atldilion to their arch-enemy man, 

 they have many to contend against, for moles, 

 weasels, shrew-mice, magpies, ravens, gulls, and — last 

 but not lea.sl rooks arc exceedingly fond of them. 

 It ha.s, in fact, often been noted that the destruction 

 of rookeries in a district has been followed by an 

 increase of white-worm, and Miss Ormerod in one of 

 her delightful works on injurious insects states that 

 the black-headed and common giills will go for miles 

 inland to follow the plough for grubs of the cock- 

 chafer. Lesser foes they also have amongst the 

 reptiles and inserts ; some of the predacious ground- 

 beetles, for instance, waging constant war against 



(I) '• In Central Europe the lite-cycle of the individual 

 occupies three )cars, though in dry periods it may be extended 

 10 fuur. In Scandinavi.i the time occupied for development 

 appears to be five years." — Sharp, '* Insec.s," Canib. Nat. 

 Hist. 



them. .More especially is Ihiii the case with Carahus 

 niiraliis, an extremely rare insert in Krilain, and not 

 really indigenous to our islands, but which on the 

 Continent, particularly in France, is unrelenting in 

 its attacks upon these terrible pests. 



Towards the end nf the third or fourth autumn the 

 larva burrows down a couple of feet or mj, and there 

 constructs a rude chamber in «hich to undergo its 

 change to the pupal ■.late. In this condiliim it passes 

 a week <ir .so, and, after assuming the imago form, 

 still remains (piiescent until the following spring, 

 when it emerges from its subterranean retreat to 

 enter upon its most important functions in life. 



( To be lOiiliiiued. ) 



NIDOI.OGN' OF THE CUCKOO. 



Hn II. KlKKK .SWANN. 



T N the summer the cuckoo {Ciuiiliis ,iiiio)U> l.inu.) 

 ■^ is spread over the whole I'alaearctic region, 

 migrating as far as .South .Vfrica, India, and casually 

 to Australia. In Scotland it is called "gowk," 

 from its Saxon name ''geac." The cuckoo shares 

 with the swallow the distinction of being typical of 

 the spring bird of passage, but with a diflerence ; 

 for while the swallow is one of the sights of early 

 spring in an English countryside, the cuckoo is one of 

 the sounds, the appearance of the bird being far less 

 familiar to most people than its cry. The male birds 

 come to us about the third week of April, always several 

 days in advance of the females, and immediately 

 announce their arrival by the well-known musical 

 cry, usually delivered when perched upon the branch 

 of a tree, but frequently while on the wing in pursuit 

 of the female. The ''cuck — 00" note, or song, is 

 uttered by the male only, the note of the female being 

 a very dis,similar rattling or " water-bubbling" cry, 

 usually heard while it is being pursued by the males. 



There is no doubt that the males are always far 

 in excess of the females, and, considering this strange 

 disproportion in conjunction with the manner in 

 which several males may commonly be observed tn 

 pursue one female, there can be very little doubt 

 that the cuckoo, unlike most other birds, is poly- 

 androus. Working upon this habit, we can arrive 

 at the conclusion, already accepted by more than 

 one ornithologist of note, that this constant harrying 

 of the female by several males is the natural explana- 

 tion of the remarkable fact that no nest is built, and 

 that the female is obliged to intrude an egg into a 

 strange do.nicile here and there, and to leave the 

 raising of its progeny to strangers. 



The egg is not, however, placed in a nest hap- 

 hazard ; for the female citckoo really hunts for nests 

 in quite a systematic way — usually, I believe, by 

 watching the owners as they enter or leave. From 

 the situation of the nests thus selected, and from 



