THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



299 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



All coramuuicationH to be Hcnt to J. E. RonsoN, 16, 

 Northgatc, Hartlepool; or to S. L. Mosley Beau- 

 mont Park, nuddorsiield. 



Subscriptions for Vol. III. are now past 

 due, and we will be glad to have remit- 

 tance from those who have not yet sent 

 them. Weekly numbers or monthly parts, 

 post free, Oj- per annum, or i/6 per quar- 

 ter, in advance. Coloured plates, 2d. each 

 extra. These can only be had direct from 

 the conductors as above, but any one 

 procuring them through the booksellers 

 can have them coloured on application. 



J. Davis. — Thanks. We have got a figure 

 of the dipper's nest and have all the birds 

 you name in our own collection. 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 



The Cuckoo. — On Wednesday last, as 

 Mrs. Thompson, wife of the gardener em- 

 ployed at Thomas Heppell's, Esq., Lcafield 

 House, Birtley, returned into her house 

 after milking a goat, she perceived a cuckoo 

 sitting upon a little bed in the kitchen. She 

 closed the door and captured the bird, when 

 it was discovered that the cuckoo had laid 

 an egg upon the coverlet. Both are in the 

 possession of Mrs. Thompson, Wash Houses 

 — Newcastle Daily Chronicle. 



Diary at Tenburv. — June 2nd. — Elder 

 fSambucus nigra) in flower. 



June 6th. — Privet (Ltgustrum vulgarc) and 

 hedge woundwort [Stachys sylvatica) in flower. 



June 9th. — Fragrant orchis {Gymnadcnia 

 Conopsea) in flower. 



June loth.— Dew-berry [Riibus c^sius) in 

 flower. 



June 22nd.— Goosegr ass {Galium Apariiu) 

 md ivy-leaved lettuce [Lactuca muralis) in 

 flower. 



June 24th.— Devil's-bit scabious {Scabiosa 

 fvccisa) and self-heal {Prunella vulgaris) in 

 . cr. 



me 28th. — White water-lily {S'ymphea 

 ) in flower.— (Miss) N. Precott Decie, 

 Jockleton Court, Tunbury. 



PITY THE SORROWS OF A 

 POOR NATURALIST. 



By Geo. P. Stather, Huddersfield. 

 (Continued from page 292.) 

 Let us suppose that you have taken up 

 the study of entomology, and that, anxious 

 to enrich your collection of moths and 

 butterflies, you set forth some fine morning, 

 furnished with a strong handy net suitable 

 for general purposes, and having your 

 pockets well supplied with the necessary 

 apparatus for killing and setting out the 

 specimens you may capture. As you pass 

 along the street you attract a little attention, 

 it is true, for the ubiquitous boy is ever on 

 the alert for something to look at. Nothing 

 comes amiss to him : from a conflagration 

 costing ;^50,ooo, to a drunken man rolling 

 along the road, all is fair game for him, and 

 you must not expect to pass unobserved ; 

 but he contents himself with a stare and, 

 perhaps, a chance remark, for he knows 

 better than to follow you with the chance of 

 seeing you get into a train or climb an 

 omnibus. You have got fairly out into the 

 country, and may now expect your troubles 

 to begin. You have not got far down the 

 road when you come across a few urchins 

 at play. Immediately you are saluted with 

 such sounds as " Hey ! look you ! butther- 

 flee catchers! let's go with 'em " and the 

 like. It is vain to try and persuade them 

 they have made a mistake as to your inten- 

 tions. Your equipment confirms their state- 

 ment. True, the boxes being made to fit 

 inside each other don't take up much room, 

 and they are snug enough in your pocket ; 

 but the rod, and above all, the net cannot 

 be so readily disposed of; sharp eyes detect 

 them however you may try to wrap them 

 up, and the probable consequence is you 

 find yourself accompanied by a volunteer 

 retinue more numerous than select, who 

 criticise your apparatus and discuss among 

 themselves your probable destination and 

 intentions with that charming frankness and 

 utter disregard of convenlional rules which 



