THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



115 



"AT HOME." 



Liverpool.— C. S. Gregson will be at home 

 every Sunday until March next. Micro- 

 lepidopterists, coleopterists, and artists 

 should come early to secure good light ; 

 general naturalists any time from nine 

 a.m. to nine p.m. — Rose Bank, Fletcher 

 Grove Edge Lane, Liverpool. 



HuDDERSFiELD.— S. L. Mosley every Sat- 

 urday afternoon. 



ASSISTANT NATURALISTS. 



J. P. SouTTER. Clyde Terrace, Bishop 

 Auckland. All branches of Botany ex- 

 cept microscopic. 



JoH.N A. Tate, 6i, Merlin Street, Liverpool. 

 Inhabitants of the Aquarium, Tcrrarium, 

 and Vivarium. 



Dr. Ellis, ioi, Everton Road, Liverpool. 

 Coleoptera. 



W. H.Bath. Manor Villa, Sutton Coldfield, 

 near Birmingham. Macro Lepidoptera. 

 Will name specimens st;nt by post. At 

 liberty any time till 31st March. 



We shall be glad of additions to these lists. 



Any one communicating with the above will 

 please enclose stamped directed envelope 

 for reply, or stamped directed label for 

 return of specimens. 



NOTES, CAPTURES, Ac. 



Birds in Song. — A stroll through the 

 voods or fir plantations at this season will 

 veil repay a lover of birds, especially on a 

 )right, cold day. On Saturday I was sur- 

 )rised at the number of our resident song- 

 ters thronging every coppice and shrubbery. 

 Jlackbirds with their powerful notes were 

 .umerous ; robins answering each other in 

 ifferent trees ; blue tits suspended in the 

 ine twigs ; and the finch tribe chattering 

 1 all directions. — J. Henderson, Croydon, 

 ebruary ist. 



The Mild Season. V. atalanta in 

 December. — The following cutting from 

 the Southern Timts (a. Dorsetshire paper) of 

 Jan. 7th, 1SS2. is kindly communicated by 

 J. W. Brooks. Esq., H.M. Prison, Walton, 

 Liverpool: — "As evidence of the extreme 

 mildness of the season, it may be mentioned 

 on Saturday (New Year's Eve; a red admiral 

 butterfly was found flying in the house of 

 Mr. Goldie, Monmouth Street. 



The Pheasants Eve in flower in 

 February. — On February ist we found a 

 plant of Pheasant's-eye i^AJonis autkmnaHs) 

 in flower. There were several other plants 

 of it in bud. It is the first time we have 

 found it growing wild in this neighbourhood. 

 Withering says it flowers from May to 

 October. — (Missj N. Prescott Decib, 

 Tenbury. 



Birmingham Notes.— On 31st December, 

 when coming down Nunnery Lane, at Selly 

 Oak, just before dusk. I heard a blackbird 

 {TurJus merula) chirping and fluttering among 

 I some small firs on the other side of the lane, 

 I so I stopped to see what it was making the 

 noise about. I then saw a cat stretched at 

 full length among the branches about four 

 feet from the ground and between two or 

 three feet from the bird in a direct line. 

 The bird kept fluttering with its wings 

 drooping and chirping all the while, and 

 occasionally would hop a few inches on to 

 another twig, sometimes nearer the cat and 

 sometimes farther away ; then the cat would 

 slightly raise its head. Twice the cat raised 

 itself as if about to spring, but the bird 

 would alter its position, when the cat would 

 crouch at full length again. This went on 

 for about ten minutes, when I, wishing to 

 get nearer, trod among some dead leaves. 

 I suppose they heard it, for the cat came 

 down the tree and walked away, while the 

 bird as soon as the cat had gone ceased its 

 chirping and in a minute or two flew away. 

 The bird was looking full at the cat all the 



