THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



155 



BIRMINGHAM NOTES. 



January ist. Redbreast (Sylvia rubecula). 

 Heard a great number singing at Sutton 

 this morning. In the winter-time robins 

 seem to frequent orchards and gardens 

 mostly. I hardly ever see them very far 

 from houses; but in summer-time, when 

 food is more plentiful, they go farther away 

 into the fields and woods. I have heard 

 robins singing all the year round. In the 

 summer I have heard them singing both 

 day and night. One moonlight night (about 

 12 p.m.) in June I was awakened by a robin 

 singing loudly on an elder-tree close to my 

 bedroom window. At first I thought it was 

 a nightingale. I could hear him very plain- 

 ly, everything else being so quiet. He sang 

 for about half-an-hour. Last May for seve- 

 ral mornings before it was light I heard 

 robins singing. They make good cage birds 

 when reared up from the nest. I have seen 

 several recently in the Birmingham Market 

 Hall. Their price is about is. or is. 6d. 

 each. Those that sing would be a little more. 



Parid^. — The Long Tailed Tit frequents 

 woods and copses, and very seldom comes 

 I near the habitation of man ; but the Great, 

 ' Blue, and Cole Tits all frequent houses and 

 build in them. I have not unfrequently found 

 nests of the Blue Tit in holes in old walls. 



January 8th. — Saw a single Field-fare at 

 Sutton this morning. I have hardly seen 

 any here at all this winter, although Hips 

 and Haws are extremely plentiful every- 

 where. I have not seen the like for several 

 winters. Saw a Blackbird feeding on haw- 

 thorn berries in a lane. Blackbirds make a 

 peculiar wattling noise when disturbed : it 

 can hardly be described in words. Saw a 

 flock of Brown Linnets on a ploughed field. 

 They seemed all to be hens. 



Moles. — I observed this morning several 

 fields completely covered with mole heaps. 

 I counted over two hundred in a very small 

 space. Moles generally frequent meadows 

 in the vicinity of water. — W. H. Bath. 



ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY. 



By S. L. Mosley. 

 [Contimied from pag& 151.) 



Gnats and FUes.— The gnat is one 

 of those insects wMch act in two ways. "We 

 will no\v speak only of the annoyance it 

 causes, reserving its good qualities for remark 

 under beneficial insects. I do not think the 

 large species (Pulex pipiens) causes much 

 damage, simply a slight annoyance by its too 

 great numbers in dwelling houses in the 

 proximity of stagnant pools. Bat in North 

 Yorkshire I have noticed a smaller species, 

 which makes a singing noise in its flight. At 

 hay-time these are sometimes very nnraerous, 

 and the necks of the mowers are blistered to 

 great pain by the suckers of these little 

 creatures. Besides gnats, many other species 

 of blood-sucking flies cause great pain by the 

 insertion of their suckers into our flesh. The 

 large Labanus bovimis will come wheeling 

 round ones head with a very unpleasant buzz, 

 and would do mischief if not driven off". 



Remedies. — All insectivorous birds and 

 animals should be encouraged as being natu- 

 ral remedies against insect pests The 

 swallow and martin are particularly destruc- 

 tive to gnats, and spiders destroy a large 

 quantity of flies. The application of some 

 preparation, such as the " white precipitate," 

 to the bare parts of the skin would, most 

 likely, be a means of keeping them off 

 persons much exposed to their attacks. 



Harvest Mite.— This is the Tetrany- 

 chus autumnalis of naturalists. It is a very 

 minute red insect, and is sometimes very 

 abundant among various kinds of plants in 

 the autumn. When it has the opportunity 

 it attacks the human species, especially those 

 with tender skins. It fastens upon the skin 

 and is very difficult to remove. It will even 

 bore its way underneath the skin, as I know 

 from experience, and produce intolerable 

 itching, raising the skin up in blisters where 

 it enters. Once, when on an entomological 



