228 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



pletely off yet she moved a long time after- 

 wards ; it was her muscles that were at 

 work. Saw a number of wild ducks swim- 

 ming on Brace Bridge Pool, one gave a 

 dive and came up over sixty yards av/ay. 

 I heard the cuckoo all day long, there were 

 two or three of them in every wood. 



May loth. Saw several turtle doves by 

 Wylde Green Station. 



Ornithological Notes. — Dates of arri- 

 val of summer visitors : — igth March, grey 

 wagtail ; 8th April, swallow ; i6th April, 

 sand martin ; i6th April, nettle creeper ! 

 23rd April, yellow wagtail ; 25th April, 

 cuckoo; 30th Arpil, chiffchaff; ist May, 

 reed sparrow ; 6th May, corncrake ; loth 

 May, turtle dove. Note. — They may have 

 arrived earlier, but these are the dates on 

 which I first observed them. — W. Har- 

 couRT Bath, Sutton Coldfield. 



Birmingham Notes. — I regret to call the 

 attention of our readers to an incident which 

 happened on the 2nd of May. A beautiful 

 specimen of the nightingale was heard sing- 

 ing at Hagley, The bird was unfortunately 

 caught in a trap with a meal worm, of which 

 this bird is very fond. The man, who did 

 his best to make this beautiful songster still 

 more rare, took it home and kept it alive 

 in a cage for a week. The bird, he informs 

 me, got quite tame, and would eat off the 

 table. It has since died, and has been 

 sent for preservation to Mr. Spicer, the 

 taxidermist, Birmingham, where it may be 

 seen by those interested. 



Three young foxes were dug out of a sand 

 hole at Stourbridge, amongst them was the 

 wing of a wild duck and some feathers. I 

 suppose they had been having a nice feed. 

 They have been sent for preservation, and 

 are the property of H. Cochrane, Esq., of 

 Stourbridge. 



Cinclus aquaticus. — A beautiful and per- 

 nest and four young of the Dipper or Water 

 Ouzel was taken on the 2nd of May, at 



Carlisle, by Mr. Watson, verger of the 

 Cathedral of that town. This nest is the 

 most perfect I ever saw. It may often be 

 found between the green damp stones of a 

 rude bridge, or in some low jutting crag, over- 

 hanging the rushing current, and is most , 

 artfully concealed. The structure is com- 

 posed of intwined mosses, and is very large, ; 

 and domed with a small laternal aperture I 

 leading to the interior chamber, which is 

 lined with a few dried leaves, and wherever I 

 it is situated it blends with the rest of the 

 moss and lichen which fills up every crevice, ' 

 and unless the bird be watched to its retreat I 

 would never be detected. The eggs of the , 

 Dipper are five in number and white. As 

 soon as the young are fledged they accom- 

 pany their parents, flitting from stone to 

 stone, and performing the most amusing 

 evolutions. The skipper is rather plentiful 

 in Wales and Scotland, but it is very seldom 

 seen here, although a splendid specimen- 

 was shot at Handsworth, near here, a few 

 weeks ago, but it must have got out of its 

 latitude by some means or other. 



An Oyster Catcher {Bcemalopus ostralegus) 

 was seen at the Edgbaston Reservoir, a few 

 days ago. — Alexander G. Davis, B.N.F.C* 

 Birmingham. 



Larv.e of S. Ocellatus and Populi. 

 — In the Young Naturalist, of May 6th, I 

 think the distinguishing characteristic of an 

 Ocellatus larva has been accidently omitted, 

 that of the horn being invariably tipped with) 

 blue, instead of pink or yellow, this is the! 

 only unfailing distinction I have ever been 1 j 

 able to find between it and the larva of j 

 Populi ; for though some of the latter are | 

 utterly unlike Ocellatus, others resemble ] 

 that larva so completely in hue and mark- ( 

 ings, as to make it otherwise difficult to [ 

 distinguish between them. The pupa ol \ 

 Populi is rough and dull, and always looks ] 

 as if it were dusty, that of Ocellatus isl 

 bright and smooth, and usually larger than 

 that of lopuli. I thought, perhaps, you 



