A Gilbert White Page 



27 



A GILBERT WHITE PAGE. 



We have had a succession of open and mild winters with 

 more or less inclement spring months. The effect of these 

 upon British bird-life is interesting. A hard winter kills 

 stay-at-home birds and the winter migrants, but an incle- 

 ment spring does not materially affect these, whilst it kills 

 our summer visitors. If the latter arrive in cold weather 

 no insects are to be had, and many of them die. It is matter 

 of general remark that thrushes, blackbirds, starlings, &c, are 

 now exceedingly abundant, and last summer there was a general 

 agreement that the swallow tribe was poorly represented, 

 more especially in cold upland districts. 



Last spring was remarkable at Haslemere for the very 

 successful activity of some of the gall-producing insects. Our 

 oak trees were hung with bunches of currant galls. The pine- 

 apple gall on spruce firs (the home of an aphis) was, on the 

 contrary, rather scarce. As regards these matters much pro- 

 bably depends upon the weather which chances to prevail 

 during the week in which the female is depositing her eggs. 



Those of our readers who have access to young plantations 

 in which spruce firs occur, should be on the look out for the gall- 

 causing aphis. Its influence on the vegetable tissues which 

 it attacks is nothing short of marvellous. The female aphis 

 deposits her eggs at the base of a young shoot and embeds 

 them in her own wool. They may be found as little masses 

 of cotton. The effect of their presence is to cause the shoot 

 to develop not as if for leaves but for a seed cone. The eggs 

 are hatched out, and just as they emerge the valves of this 

 false cone open to receive them and they crawl in. Then 

 follows the production of a most beautiful object, the pine- 

 apple gall. The process must be watched to be believed. 



(To be continued.) 



