THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



227 



EXCHANGE. 



Duplicates. — Larvae of B. trijolii. Desi- 

 derata. — Iris, Sibylla, Cassiope, Hyale, Argio- 

 lus, Populeti, Munda, and many others. — R. 

 A. Fraser, Seafield, Abbotsford Road, 

 Crosby, near Liverpool. 



Duplicates. — Eggs of S. populi. — John 

 E. RoBSON, 15, Northgate, Hartlepool. 



BIRMINGHAM NATURALISTS' 

 FIELD CLUB. 



An excursion was made to the Lickey 

 Hills on Saturday, 6th May. We took sev- 

 eral ornithological, entomological, and bo- 

 tanical specimens, and returned home well 

 pleased with the outing. — W. Harcourt 

 Bath, Hon. Sec. 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 



Birmingham Notes. — April 26th.— Brac- 

 ken FERN. — I have noticed that bracken 

 growing in the midst of a bush attains to a 

 very great height. Some old stalks that I 

 saw to-day were quite ten feet high. The 

 reason I expect is that the bracken is smo- 

 thered, and tries to find a vent by growing 

 as high as the surrounding objects. Daisies 

 growing in a field where the grass is high 

 have very long stalks. 



Grease. — I have cured a female of Liparis 

 dispar that had the grease badly by giving it 

 good soakings in benzine with a brush. 



"A Dog in the Manger." — A friend of 

 mine has a little black terrier who, when he 

 has more food than he can eat, sits by it for 

 hours and snaps at anybody who comes 

 near him. 



April 29th. — Lilac in flower at Sutton. 

 Discovered a few cowslips on railway banks 

 at Erdington, and daffodils by Gravelly 

 Hill. Hemlock (Conium maculatum) plenti- 

 ful everywhere : it has been in flower some 



time. 



Hedgehogs. — A gentleman remarks that 

 he has seen hedgehogs running about very 

 lively at night. He once ran after one and 

 clapped his hands round it, thinking it to 

 be a hare or rabbit, but he was soon mis- 

 taken. 



April 30th. — Found nests and eggs of 

 wren, chaffinch, hedge sparrow, and linnet 

 very abundantly. Found two nests of ring 

 dove containing eggs, and a magpie's on a 

 high tree. Saw two dead young rooks lying 

 on the ground that had been blown out of 

 their nest during the recent gale. Found 

 cowslips growing in great abundance in cer- 

 tain localities near Sutton. Heard numbers 

 of chiffchaffs in Sutton Park : they were all 

 singing while perched high up in some oak- 

 tree. Oak in full leaf. 



May ist. — The meadow flowers are now 

 out in full. Some fields near Chestri Road 

 Station look like a cloth of gold. 



May 3rd. — Saiurnia carpini (male), 

 emerged from pupa ; is not this very late ? 



May 5th. — Small white butterflies begin- 

 ning to appear in numbers on the railway 

 banks. Mountain Ash in flower at Edgbas- 

 ton. Almond in flower, it has been so for 

 some time. The trees are now in their full 

 splendour, they are of every shade of 

 green. 



May 7th. — Saw a number of partridges, 

 on fields to the north of Sutton. Found a 

 magpie's nest on a high tree, containing 

 eight eggs. A gentleman who was with me 

 climbed up and brought some of them down. 

 Found several other nests. Saw a few 

 holly blue butterflies in Four Oaks Park, 

 flying about the holly bushes. Took several 

 Tephrosia Consonaria and CvLpuscularia on 

 trunks of trees in Pool Hollies Wood. i'. 

 rupee and V. Vrtkcc plentiful to-day. On 

 the railway I saw a hen run over by a train. 

 It cut her head and one of her wings com- 



