THE YOUNG 



NATURALIST. 



379 



corded was a heron after all." We confess 

 we had doubts of the correctness of the 

 statement when it was inserted, but expected 

 if not right it would be corrected by some 

 one knowing better than ourselves. 



Early Appearance of Hybernia Defo- 

 LiARiA. — Last Saturday, September i6th, 

 Mr. Firth took a female specimen of this 

 species at Shipley Glen. So surprised was 

 he that he could scarcely believe his own 

 eyes until he had called my attention to it 

 as it rested on the trunk of an oak. It is 

 by far the earliest date on which we have 

 seen the species, and, being a female, is more 

 surprising, as my experience leads me to 

 believe that the females of this species are 

 as a rule much later in their appearance 

 than the males. — ^J. W. Carter, Bradford. 



Birmingham Notes. — September loth. — 

 Walked to Maxtoke (a distance of 13 miles) 

 and back, and saw the following plants in 

 flower : — White campion (Lychnis vesper- 

 Una), which was fully open, contrary to its 

 general habit of only opening at night ; 

 common sow thistle (SoncJius oleraceus), 

 wood sage (Teucrium scorodonia), wood 

 betony (Stachys hetonica), eyebright (JUu- 

 phrasia, officinalis), and common linare 

 (Zinaria vulgaris) , the latter was very 

 abundant, and looked very pretty growing 

 out of the middle of the hedges. The spikes 

 of Ao'vm maculatum with their red berries 

 were very common and conspicuous objects 

 in the hedge bottoms. The nuts of the 

 hazel ( Corylus avellana) were very plentiful, 

 we getting over a pound in a very short time, 

 and there was not an empty or bad one 

 amongst them. The blackberries (Huhiis 

 fruticosus) are rather late this year, we 

 only succeeding in getting about a dozen 

 ripe ones, but unripe ones were very 

 numerous. 



The common bracken (Pteris aquiUm) 

 and the male fern {Lastrea jilix-mas) were 

 very plentiful and very large sized. The 

 former was covered with spores, but the 



latter was conspicuous by their absence, for 

 although I searched doxens of ferns could 

 not find a single one. 



The only moth I saw was the Silver Y 

 moth (Plnsia gamma), which was very 

 abundant; and one I noticed, when dis- 

 tributed it always alighted again on a leaf 

 head downwards. 



Partridges and rabbits were extremely 

 numerous, we flushing several coveys of the 

 former. As I was looking over a low hedge 

 into a small coppice about ten yards wide, 

 a couple of very fine partridges rose from 

 under the hedge almost at my feet, leisurely 

 flew across the coppice, settled, turned 

 round and looked at us, then quietly walked 

 along for a few yards and disappeared among 

 the underwood. 



The nests of house martins lined both 

 sides of the narrow arches of the ruins of 

 Maxtoke Abbey. The nests were all built 

 close together, and the old birds were flying 

 in and out feeding their young. — Geo. F. 

 Wheeldon, Birmingham. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



By S. C. Gregson. 



"Speckled Wood" (see page 372, Y.N.), 

 " Satyrus jEgeria." This species occurs here, 

 but is local. Near Liverpool it is confined 

 to the Cheshire side of the Mersey, but is 

 plentiful in all the shady districts, from 

 Bromborough on the Mersey, across to the 

 peninsula of Worral to the River Dee, at 

 West Kirby, within a triangle, the apex of 

 which is at Motington ; outside this triangle 

 I do not know of its appearance. Within 

 our district the larva hybernates. I have 

 bred it from "Whetborough Scarr" and 

 "Scoots Scarr," Westmoreland. Does not 

 occur in South Lancashire that I am aware 

 of, and never did so far as I can learn. 



Satyrus Megcem. — Plentiful everywhere 

 down here. The green larva of this species 

 is always found by me on the mountains in 

 Wales, when I am searching for Agrotis ash- 



