14 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Jan. 1, 1865. 



ZOOLOGY. 



The Common Shkew {Sorex tetragonm-us) .—\ 

 kept one of these pretty little animals for a few clays 

 iu a bos with moss. It would eat almost any animal 

 substance, but seemed to prefer insects and earth- 

 worms : the former it seized with a spring, and it 

 would eat seven or eight house-flies at a time ; if 

 more were given it hid them in the moss. Small 

 worms were caught by one end and munched slowly 

 Avithout being bitten through. On giving it a large 

 one (about four or five inches long), it gave it a 

 sharp bite, then sprang back, then flew at it again, 

 until the worm was half dead, when it ate about 

 half and hid the rest. It slept during the middle of 

 the day, roUed up among the moss, but always 

 waked up at once if worms or flies were put into the 

 box. I believe that, when pressed for food, shrews 

 will kill and eat frogs, but when a large one was 

 placed in the box the present specimen did not seem 

 inclined to prey upon it, although it now and then 

 gave it a slight bite on the hind leg ; after they had 

 been together for some hours the poor frog was 

 taken away. The shrew seemed to be very cleanly, 

 constantly dressing its fur and " washing" its face 

 with its fore paws, as rabbits do. It soon died by 

 an accident. — E. R. Alsto7i in the Zoologist. 



A Moa's Egg. — The Nelson Examiner states : — 

 " A moa's egg is now being exhibited at Messrs. 

 Bcthune and Hunter's ofiices. It is about ten 

 inches long and five inches in diameter, of a dirty 

 white colour. It was found at the Kaikoros, in the 

 middle island, under singular circumstances. A 

 labourer in Mr. EyfPe's employ, who was digging 

 the foundation for a liouse, came upon the egg, and, 

 unfortunately, with his pick broke some portions of 

 the shell. It was found in the hands of the skeleton 

 of a Maori, who was buried in a sitting posture, with 

 the egg resting in his hands and held opposite to 

 his head. The egg has been placed in a box of 

 rimu, and protected with a sheet of glass on the top. 

 In a drawer beneath, securely covered with glass, 

 are the fragments of the shell, which have been 

 carefully preserved. The injury, as the egg is 

 placed in the box, is not perceptible, and it appears 

 to be perfect." 



Gulls Looking otjt.— Gulls hover about ships 

 in port, and often far out at sea, diligently watching 

 for the waste of the caboose. While the four great 

 fleets, English, French, Turkish, and Egyptian, were 

 lying in the Bosphorus, in the summer aud autumn 

 of 1853, a young lady of my family called my atten- 

 tion to the fact that the gulls were far more nume- 

 rous about the ships of one of the fleets than about 

 the others. This was verified by repeated observation, 



and the difference was owing no doubt to the greater 

 abundance of the refuse from the cook-rooms of the 

 naval squadron most frequented by the birds. Per- 

 sons acquainted with the economy of the navies of 

 the states in question, will be able to conjecture 

 which fleet was most favoured M'ith these delicate 

 attentions. — MarsKs Man and 'Nature. 



Anecdote of a Stokk. — Birds do not often 

 voluntarily take passage on board ships bound for 

 foreign countries, but I can testify to one sucb case. 

 A stork which had nested near one of the palaces on 

 the Bosphorus, bad, by some accident, injured a 

 wing, and was unable to join his fellows when they 

 commenced their winter migration to the banks of 

 the Nile. Before he was able to fly again, he was 

 caught, and the flag of the nation to which the palace 

 belonged was tied to his leg, so that he was easily 

 identified at a considerable distance. As his wing 

 grew stronger, he made several unsatisfactory ex- 

 periments at flight, and at last, by a vigorous effort, 

 succeeded in reaching a passing ship bound south- 

 ward, and perched himself on a topsail yard. I 

 happened to witness this movement, and observed 

 him quietly maintaining his position as long as I 

 could discern him with a spy-glass. I suppose he 

 finished the voyage, for he certainly did not return 

 to the palace. — Tuid. 



Anecdote op the Swipt. — Mr. Yarrell mentions 

 an instance of a sparrow accidentally hanging itself 

 in a noose from its own nest, and I was the other 

 day witness to an incident of a somewhat similar 

 nature, though fortunately less tragic in its termina- 

 tion. A pair of svvifts [Cypselus apus) had built 

 their nest iu a crevice under the eaves of a house, 

 and the aperture was so narrow that they could with 

 difliculty squeeze tliemselves through. My atten- 

 tion was one morning attracted by a loud flapping 

 of wings, and on hastening to the window to ascer- 

 tain the cause I perceived that one of the birds had, 

 by some means or other, caught one of its feet either " 

 in a chink of the brickwork, or in some portion of 

 the materials of its nest (the height was too great 

 to see which), and was held a prisoner just at the 

 entrance. Its struggles were violent, and continued 

 without intermission for nearly three-quarters of an 

 hour. Sometimes the poor bird would hang for a 

 few seconds with its head downwards, as if dead, 

 and then again it woidd renew its efforts to escape. 

 At length, after a longer pause than usual, by a 

 sudden and vigorous exertion, it succeeded in cast- 

 ing itself free. I passed the tiuilding several times 

 in the course of the day, but never saw either of the 

 birds near the place. The following morning, how- 

 ever, they were going in and out as usual. — W. 

 Weld, in Naturalist's Scrap Book. 



