218 



KIDD'S OWN JOUENAL. 



OEIGINAL COERESPONDENCE. 



The Cuckoo and the Gossamer. — You said, 

 some time since, you would reprint your " Notes 

 on the Cuckoo," together with ail the corre- 

 spondence thereon that was made public — I wish 

 you would do so. [We will redeem our promise 

 by and by. We have not forgotten it. There 

 will be plenty of time before he returns again to 

 us. He is only heard in mild, warm weather. 

 His song, though monotonous, is cheerful. The 

 habits of this bird, so l.mg doubtful, are now well 

 understood. Nature is not quite so im-natural 

 as some folk will have her to be.] Please also 

 to tell us something about the gossamer. I take 

 your Paper; and expect such little favors to be 

 granted me. — W Cox, Bohbington, Bridg- 

 north. 



[We will insert A Paper on the Gossamer next 

 week.] — - — 



" Our own Editor."—" The ladies of Notting- 

 ham," my dear Sir, have done well to compli- 

 ment you, through their " Donna Violante," for 

 your zeal in their particular service. But the 

 ladies must not have it all their own way. Our 

 own Journal is one of the most interesting of 

 existing periodicals. Apart from all humbug and 

 time-serving, it furnishes us from week to week 

 with an immense variety of honestly-attested 

 facts in almost every branch of Natural History. 

 If perseverance, good sense, good tact, good 

 taste, and a well-stored mind, deserve the pa- 

 tronage of the public — then surely our own 

 Editor commands it. Let me therefore, on 

 behalf of the Public generally as well as on my 

 own behalf, most cordially unite with the fair 

 Violante and her lovely sisterhood, in wishing 

 prosperity to our excellent Editor. Every reader, 

 let me hope, whether masculine or feminine, will 

 assist in contributing to the Journal on all 

 interesting subjects that may happen to come 

 under their own particular observation. We 

 shall thus all contribute towards keeping up the 

 well-earned renown of our Own Journal, and 

 thereby be mutually benefited by its perusal. 

 May you live, my dear Sir, for many years to 

 come, to gladden our hearts weekly; and may 

 we live for as many years, to assist in returning 

 the quid pro quo in the shape of £ s. d. These 

 mutual exchanges are " profitable investments," 

 both for body and mind. — Bombyx Atlas, 

 Tottenham. 



[Having given insertion to the kind offering of 

 Friendship transmitted to us through Donna 

 Violante (see p. 151), we cannot very well 

 withhold that of our equally-valued friend and 

 ally, Bombyx Atlas— the king of entomologists, 

 and the model of disinterested noble generosity. 

 May we all — as he wishes — live for ever !] 



Curious Hybrid Grouse. — Dear Mr. Editor — 

 The following appears in our Manchester 

 Guardian : — " A remarkable specimen of a mix- 

 ture of breeds, from two of the finest game birds 

 of this country, has been received by Mr. Muir- 

 head, the game-dealer. Victoria-street. It was 

 shot in Perthshire. Upon examination, it is 

 found to possess strong characteristics of its pa- 

 rental descent from the male of the black grouse 

 (Tetrao Tetrix), and the female of the caper- 



cailzie (Tetrao Urogallus), bearing a greater re- 

 semblance to the black grouse than to the caper- 

 cailzie. The head, neck, and breast are mottled 

 and barred with brown and black ; the throat, 

 with black and white, the whole of the back and 

 under the wings are freckled with dark brown 

 and black, without any of the glossy blue-b!ack 

 feathers of the black grouse. The wings are 

 black and brown, with small bars and spots of 

 white. There is the white tuft at the shoulders, 

 but not the broad white band which belongs 

 to the black grouse. The belly is black, with 

 spots of white tipping the feathers down the 

 centre, as in the male capercailzie. The legs 

 are marked like the black grouse, but are stronger, 

 and claws with larger pectinations. The tail is 

 not fully grown, but in its present aspect exhibits 

 an anomalous mixture of the differently shaped 

 tail of its parents. The feathers are glossy 

 black; four of the centre feathers and the two 

 outer feathers are two inches longer than the rest. 

 The centre feathers are rounded and shaped as 

 the tail of the capercailzie, but the outer feather 

 has a tendency to curve, as on the tail of the 

 black grouse. The under coverts to the tail, and 

 those feathers covering the blanks, are barred 

 with black and white, as in the capercailzie. 

 In its proportions it exceeds the ordinary black 

 grouse, and it is not so large as the female ca- 

 percailze. It is evidently a bird of the year, and 

 had it been shot later in the season, would have 

 been larger, and a more richly marked bird. 

 It weighed 2lb. 12oz." Mr. Muirhead has pre- 

 sented the specimen to the Salford Royal 

 Museum, where it is now placed in the British 

 collection. — Joseph L., Manchester. 



Hemarkable Descent of Insects. — I have just 

 read in No. 38 of our Journal, an account of 

 the very remarkable flight of ants, sent to 

 you by "J. T.," Windsor. It brings forcibly to 

 my remembrance a flight, or rather a descent of 

 insects, which took place here a year or two since. 

 I will describe them as well as I can, and then 

 I know your most delightful correspondent, 

 Bombyx Atlas, will tell us all about them. They 

 were about twice the size of the common aphis; 

 nearly of a similar form, but the wings were 

 somewhat longer. Their color was a brownish 

 black. Their arrival (in armies) was marked by 

 one bright, lovely morning in June. How well 

 do I remember it ! At 11, a.m., the sky became 

 suddenly overcast. Within one short quarter of an 

 hour afterwards, everything was literally covered 

 with the insects of which I have been speaking. 

 They fell just like rain. Throughout the "day, 

 they betook themselves to trees, vegetables, 

 flowers, and shrubs. Hereon they fixed them- 

 selves firmly, their heads being downwards, and 

 their wings above. The feathery appearance 

 thus imparted to the trees and flowers,was curious 

 beyond description. Their tenacity was such, 

 that it was a matter of real difficulty to remove 

 them. So exceedingly numerous were they, that 

 thousands were found en masse on one small bean- 

 pod ! Their sojourn lasted three days. Their 

 exodus was then as sudden as their advent. 

 They fled ; and left behind no trace of their visit. 

 Their quarters, let me add, had extended to the 

 full distance of a. mile! — Flora G., Worcester. 



