172 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



spots ; the three outer ones are often confluent. 

 These spots are bordered by black, and that 

 again slightly by yellow. The under side of all 

 the wings is of a lighter tint than the upper side. 

 The markings on the upper wings have a 

 reddish tinge ; and the spots on the lower wings 

 are all of a coffee brown. The " corselet " is 

 coffee brown with a red collar. The abdomen is 

 the same color as the under wings (generally), 

 with five to six dark blueish black transverse 

 dashes across the centre, and with about a 

 similar number of broad coffee brown dashes 

 beneath. The fringe on the upper wings is 

 either coffee brown, or creamy white, just as that 

 color happens to prevail on the outer margin. 

 On the lower wings, it is pale yellowish ; and in 

 some specimens, mixed with brick red. The 

 antennae are creamy white, with the tip brown. 

 I shall conclude by saying that I have feeding 

 close under my nose about half a thousand Chelo- 

 nia Caja. Let me hope that C. Miller, Hackney, 

 will send some more of his interesting positive 

 remarks to the valuable, simple, and fascinating 

 leaves of our " Own Journal." — Bombyx 

 Atlas, Tottenham. 



Mysterious Disappearance of a Hive of Bees. — 

 All, Mr. Editor, who are in want of instruction, 

 seem to fly to you. Your wing has been so 

 widely extended (and yet you say there is room), 

 that I at once take refuge under it. Tell me, 

 please, if you can account for the following. A 

 fortnight ago, we lost a hive of bees, — they had 

 been hived two years. We observed them in 

 great confusion, and we imagined they might be 

 about to throw off a swarm. This agitation con- 

 tinued until the evening. The following day, 

 they appeared in comparative repose,but there was 

 much broken comb observable beneath the hive. 

 Last week we had the curiosity to examine it. 

 Not one bee was there remaining in it! not one 

 drop of honey ! That there had been plenty, 

 was evident from the state of the comb. I may 

 remark, that this was a remarkable swarm of 

 bees, — numerous and vigorous. We do not at- 

 tribute the disappearance of the bees and honey 

 to the wasps, although many have been seen in 

 the neighborhood. — Seraphina, Staines. 



[We are almost inclined to think, Mademoi- 

 selle, that the wasps are the cause of your loss. 

 From the agitation of the colony, it is evident some 

 enemy had disturbed them ; and we know of no 

 more formidable enemy than the wasp. We shall 

 see if any of our readers can explain the matter 

 more satisfactorily.] 



Cats without Tails.'' — I mark, Mr. Editor, 

 whilst perusing your Journal (of which I am now 

 a constant reader), that the above sport from 

 Nature's more usual caudal conditions in the 

 Cat, has aroused the spirit of speculation in 

 some of your correspondents. At page 24, 

 vol. i., one writer, not being able to trace a gene- 

 alogy for tailless cats, insinuates that his ac- 

 quaintances have a resemblance to " a cross 

 between bunny and grimalkin." Yet he asserts 

 that, except in the want of a tail, his observed 

 mouser " is in all other respects a perfect cat." 

 This admission would seem to be enough to 

 decide the writer's doubts ; for a mule beast 



should have duplex structures, more numerously 

 and more equally distributed than appears in a 

 whole and undivided cat, minus her tail. Never- 

 theless, the author puts in the plea of propin- 

 quity thus:—" I may, however, remark that there 

 was a rabbit-warren at hand." This hint inti- 

 mates that your correspondent is scarcely a 

 sceptic in the possibility or even probability that 

 cats and rabbits can breed together ; he even 

 suspeets that they do so spontaneously. Next 

 comes " J. T.," at page 330. This writer gives 

 us the unadorned fact of kittens, even without 

 flounce or furbelow; and prudently leaves the 

 " cause" to other investigators. Again we have, 

 in the same number of Our Journal, " J. A. B." 

 This gentleman fully believes " K. D.'s" fancy to 

 be true; and that tailless cats are the progeny 

 of cats and rabbits. But he is at a loss to 

 account how snub-tailed rabbits can have kittens, 

 without a bit of the tail, at all! Now, Sir, the 

 physiology of this case is half-fish, half-monkey, 

 like the dried mermaid in the juggler's show-box. 

 But the diatetic demonstrations are of much 

 moment. It seems the rabbit-y cats ate raw 

 beef freely ; and would not touch the usual food 

 of rabbits. This is all wrong, and inharmo- 

 nious. To make matters straight, the gnawing 

 teeth of the rabbit ought to have been flanked by 

 sharp incisors, and the short intestines of a car- 

 nivorous cat ought to have an appended sac as 

 long as a tail, in which to digest lettuces, &c, 

 alternately with mice and rats, " and other small 

 deer." Fortunately for all who might have cre- 

 dited this impossibility, a correspondent " M. R." 

 sets the matter right at p. 379. It is an ano- 

 malous structural deficiency, — not very unusual, 

 but of which we as yet do not know the pro- 

 ducing law. An Angora cat, with her beau- 

 tiful bushy tail, is not a mule from a grey 

 squirrel ; yet the claim to paternity is the same as 

 that of the tailless cat to the rabbit. It may be 

 well to say in a popular Journal like our own, 

 for the guidance of those who have not attended 

 to Physiology, that these congenital, or " from 

 birth " variations from usual types, are thousand- 

 fold in plants; hundred-fold in the lower forms 

 of animals ; twenty-fold in fishes, birds, and quad- 

 rupeds; and fewest of all in the lofty genus 

 Homo. — Richard, Cork. 



[Will our obliging Correspondent use his in- 

 fluence with the local booksellers in his vicinity, to 

 keep our Journal on sale? We will send cir- 

 culars, show-bills, or any thing that may induce 

 them to say there is such a periodical as " Kidd's 

 Journal." This is denied, daily, all over the 

 United Kingdom ! ] 



Affection of Birds. — In the spring of the pre- 

 sent year, two sportsmen walking along the 

 shore, to the east of Worthing, came upon the 

 nest of a ringed dotterel (Charadrius hiaticula), 

 in which were two young birds. One of the 

 parents was shot, and a young bird taken. The 

 other parent, not being present, escaped; but 

 one of the offspring was left in the nest, to en- 

 tice it back. Returning on the following morn- 

 ing, the sportsmen found the nest was empty, 

 and the young one removed to some considerable 

 distance. The parent, however, was still not to 

 be seen. Next day they again returned, but the 



