44 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



Note. — I was not aware that P. pilosavia 

 made its appearance before February. 



Shrews. — When I was last staying in 

 Shropshire I noticed a number of dead 

 shrews by the side of a pool. They did not 

 seem to have been- hurt in any way. I have 

 heard from several sources that numbers 

 are found dead every autumn without 

 any apparent cause of death. I would be 

 much obliged if any body would inform me 

 the reason of this. 



L. Argiolus. — Can any of the readers of 

 the " Young Naturalist " living in the south 

 of England tell me whether L. argiolus has 

 been plentiful this year or not. It has been 

 very scarce at Sutton. At least I have not 

 seen many specimens. Last year it was in 

 great numbers. — W. H. Bath, Birmingham 

 and Sutton Coldfield. 



(P. pilosavia has no doubt appeared so early 

 in consequence of the extreme mildness of 

 the season. — Eds.) 



Ornithological Notes from Birming- 

 ham. — There was a blackbird's nest contain- 

 ing eggs newly laid, found by a gentleman in 

 Carpenter Road, Edgbaston, a few days ago. 

 A blackbird's nest in the middle of Novem- 

 ber is rather an unusual occurrence. 



A specimen of the hoopoe (Upupa epops ) 

 was shot at Oscott, near Sutton Coldfield 

 (a few miles from here), on the 21st of Nov- 

 ember, by Mr, H. J. James. 



I have noticed sparrows (house sparrows) 

 building in several localities round about 

 Birmingham during the mild weather of 

 this month. — P. T. Deakin, Edgbaston. 



(We have had several notices of the hoopoe 

 at Oscott, and presume they are all of the 

 same bird. — Eds.) 



On November 24th we sav/ an oak-tree 

 that had sprouted during the warm weather 

 and was nearly in fulMeaf.— N. Prescutt 

 Decie, Bockleton Court, Tenbury, Worces- 

 tershire. 



SENSIBILITY IN INSECTS. 



J. R. S. Clifford, 

 From the " Naturalist's Circular." 



Many individuals are inclined to think that 

 one of the principal disadvantages attendant 

 upon the study of entomology, as it is usually 

 pursued, is the measure of cruelty (real or 

 apparent; which seems unavoidably con- 

 nected with it. The geologist may strike his 

 favourite rocks and fossils as hard as he 

 pleases, without any danger of producing 

 even an infinitesimal degree of suffering; 

 and the botanist, as he pulls up plant after 

 plant by the roots, however much he may 

 love the offspring of Flora, will rarely feel 

 inclined to say with the poet, — 



" 'Tis my faith that every flower 

 Enjoys the air it breathe.s." 



But when we turn to even such an inferior 

 rank of animals as those which are compre- 

 hended in the class Insecta, the matter looks 

 differently. There are none who will ven- 

 ture to assert that insects are positively void 

 of all sensibility ; and it therefore becomes a 

 question of some importance to every ento- 

 mologist to consider whether he can make 

 any plausible conjectures as to the nature 

 and the intensity of the feeling experienced 

 by insects. A rather animated discussion of 

 this point — " Do insects feel pain ?" — has 

 been carried on recently in a natural history 

 periodical ; and though, judging by present 

 appearances, it seems probable that the dis- 

 putants themselves will leave off just as they 

 began, many lookers on will benefit by the | 

 " ventilation," as the phrase goes, of this in- 

 teresting theme. Without entering the arena 

 of controversy, I venture to jot down a few 

 ideas upon the subject, gained chiefly by ob- \ 

 servation. i 

 I think it must be granted by all thought- 

 ful men that, in speaking of insects, and in- 

 deed of all living creatures upon this globe, ; 

 saving man, we can only use the words , 

 "pleasure" and "pain" in a subordinate 

 sense. We are too apt to forget the intimate 



