THE YOUNG NATUBALIST. 



255 



NOTES FROM A NATURALIST'S DIARY. 



By W. H. WARNER. 

 (Continued, from page 164 J 



House Sparrow (P. domesticus.) — Noticed (November 20th, 1882) an 

 old sparrow introducing a feather into the nest of a house martin (H. urhica) 

 built under the eaves of the next house. These mud-built structures afford 

 warm winter roosting-nests for the artful sparrows. 



Kobin (E. rubectda). — I once saw a robin's nest containing young, built 

 in the side of a grave mound, in a secluded little churchyard in Bucks. A 

 very queer place indeed for merry " Bob " to nest in. 



Goat Moth (C. ligniperda). — A caterpillar of this moth was found to-day 

 (October 20th) in an adjoining garden, eating into a mangold-wurzel root. 

 These rank-smelling caterpillars are often dug up in this garden. Entomo- 

 logical books, as far as I know, never speak of this caterpillar being found 

 in any other situations than the inner trunks of trees. 



Voracity or the Piks (E. lucius) . — Talking to a party of fishing, poach- 

 ing fellows, down by the river this evening (October 22nd), they told me that 

 once when wiring a jack in a ditch they could not find its head, there being 

 a tail at each end ; but on getting it out they discovered it had gorged another 

 as big as itself, the tail of the swallowed one sticking out of the swallower's 

 mouth. They also spoke of another case in which the gorger had got its 

 ' victim crosswise in its mouth. 



Large Heath Butterfly (S. tithonus). — In Newman's " British Butter- 

 flies/' when giving the localities in which this species is found, he says he has 

 "no record of its occurrence in Oxfordshire." For the benefit of future 

 butterfly historians I may remark that it is very common in the county. 



Clouded Yellow Butterfly [C. edusa). — When on my way to a flower 

 show at the neighbouring town to-day (August 14th, 1877), I saw about a 

 dozen specimens of this lovely butterfly fluttering about the flowers by the 

 side of the hedges, and all of them except one specimen were flying in this 

 direction, i.e. towards Standlake. 



Nuthatch (S. Euro/jcea). — A beechnut, which had been placed in the 

 chink of a wall, no doubt by this bird, has now (May 1st) germinated and 

 thrown out a tender stem and a pair of cotyledons. I also found a yewberry 

 a day or two back tightly wedged in the mortar of the back wall. The Great 

 Titmouse (D. major) has a great fancy for yewberries. Of course I am speak- 

 ing of the seed itself not the scarlet pulpy outside of the berry. The storing 

 habits of the nuthatch have long been familiar to me. See " Science Gossip/' 

 vol. 9, page 33, 



