76 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[xVpml 1,1865. 



all insects ■with the power of flight, and consequently 

 in the Pleris, this apparatus develops a pair of 

 pouches destined to contain air, and thus, of course, 

 diminishes the specitic gravity of the body. Ac- 

 cording to Newport, it is only in the chrysalis that 

 these organs are formed with rapidity. In Pieris, 

 they first appear some time in autumn, and are half- 

 formed before the winter ; they remain At a stand- 

 still during the season, and assume their perfect 

 form a short time after the last metamorphosis. 



The function of all the organs we have already 

 described is that of preserving or maintaining the 

 life of the individual. They are all, moreover, in the 

 full exercise of their duties from the moment that 

 the creature emerges from the egg. Those organs 

 connected with the perpetuation of the species are 

 very differently situate. These are so slightly de- 

 veloped, and so imperceptible whilst the insect is in 

 the caterpillar stage, that the penetrating researclies 

 of Herold could not demonstrate their existence. 

 These organs arc quite rudimentary, even at a 

 period of five months after the conversion of the 

 caterpillar into a chrysalis. It is oidy at the last 

 moment, and just as the butterfly is about to make 

 its escape, that they are to be seen in process of 

 completion, whilst they undergo their entire develop- 

 ment only in the perfect insect. 



Here we must notice a very significant fact, and 

 one which bears forcibly on the present subject. 

 The female Pieris dies soon after depositing her 

 eggs, and the male ceases to exist at a still earlier 

 period. Matrimony is as fatal to them as it is to all 

 insects, and their existence terminates when the pre- 

 servation of the species has been insured. There is, 

 however, an occasional circumstance which, by 

 preventing the discharge of the functions essential 

 to this final object, prolongs the usually short life of 

 these insects to an extent beyond tliat which is 

 intended. Some butterflies do not emerge from the 

 chrysalis case till late in autumn, and then the cold 

 temperature of the surrounding atmosphere retards 

 their development, and winter comes on ere they 

 have begun their amours. 



In consequence of this, they retire to some 

 sheltered spot, remain there during the whole 

 season, and reappear in spring. Thanks to this 

 condition of celibacy, the result rather of circum- 

 stances than of desire, their lives, instead of being 

 limited to a few weeks, extend over several months. 



THE WATEE PIPIT. 



{AiiiliKs Kpiiioletla L.) 



THE first intimation of the occurrence of this 

 Continental bird in the British Isles, or at 

 least tiie first wliich was made public, was the exhi- 



bition at a meeting of the Zoological Society, on 

 January 2ith, 1865, of a specimen from the collec- 

 tion of tlie Bishop of Oxford, stated to have been 

 obtained near Brighton, in the winter of 1859-60 

 (see p. 64). Prom information afterwards received, 

 we were led to correspond with the Hev. II. B, 

 Tristram on the subject, and as tlie name of this 

 gentleman is well known to British zoologists, his 

 communication will be accepted with confidence. 

 He writes : — 



" I have no liesitation in stating that I can dis- 

 tinguish no diflerence between a pair (male and 

 female) shot by me in January, 1861, on the island 

 of Borkahill, on the east coast of Ireland, and spe- 

 cimens I have obtained in Greece, Tunis, and Cyprus. 

 In this I am borne out by my friend, Mr. A. Newton. 

 The comnion Northumbrian s]3ecies is A. obscurus, 

 and I never heard of A. spinoletta on our uortlieru 

 coast." 



Upon such authority, therefore, we can no longer 

 object to recognize the Water Pipit amongst our 

 occasional visitors. 



This Pipit, during the breeding season and summer, 

 appears to be an inhabitant of the Swiss Alps, the 

 Tyrol, the Pyrenees, and other mountainous dis- 

 tricts ; but in the autumn and winter it descends 

 to the plains, and is found along the course of rivers. 

 It is probably to be met with at this season on both 

 shores of the Mediterranean, and in some of the 

 Mediterranean Islands. In the north of Europe it 

 is rarely found, being confined chiefly to the south 

 and west. This is not the place to enter upon the 

 question of its identity with at least a closely allied 

 ximerican species. Our species most resembling it 

 is the Rock Pipit {Anthus obscurus). Prom this it 

 differs chiefly in the following particulars : — In 

 the Bock Pipit the beak is of a dusky colour, yel- 

 lowish at the base, and the legs and feet reddish- 

 brown. In the Water Pipit the beak, legs, and feet 

 are black. In the Ilock Pipit, the primaries, or 

 longer and outer wing feathers, have tlie outer feather 

 the longest, and the three next successively shorter. 

 In the Water Pipit the first four primaries are of 

 nearly equal length, but the third is slightly the 

 longest, and tlie first the shortest. In the Bock 

 Pipit those wing-feathers, which are termed tlie 

 wing-coverts, are dusky, edged with pale olive, but 

 not very distinctly, and in the Water Pipit they are 

 bordered with yellowish, so as to form two bands 

 across the wings. Any more minute description 

 would only be interesting to the scientific ornitho- 

 logist. 



Having pointed out the most prominent features 

 whereby an ordinary observer may discover to wliich 

 of the two species any stray visitor may belong 

 that may find its way into his hands, we wait with 

 patience for further confirmation of its claims to be 

 included in the British Pauna. 



