8 4 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



[April, 



Notes and Observations. 



The Great Northern Diver at Hartlepool. — A boy brought 

 me a very fine example of this rare bird to-day, which had been 

 captured by a fishing boat a mile or two out. It is immature, the 

 white spots just showing, and the dark bars visible as a darker shade 

 only. I found it had been wounded, a No. 5. shot dropped out of its 

 head when I removed the skin. This probably accounted for it 

 allowing itself to be taken by the hand. — James A. Mann, Empress 

 Hotel, Hartlepool, 26th February, 1889. 



On the Wings of Insects.* 



By CHARLES H. H. WALKER. 



The microscopical character and general functions of these most 

 important appendages, so eminently characteristic of, but not alone 

 peculiar to the class Insecta, comprise a subject of exceeding magni- 

 tude, and possessed of an unusual amount of interest and scope for the 

 student of entomological science. It is upon these members that 

 Nature has been most lavish in her chaste and brilliant adornment, 

 spreading them with rich pigments of every hue, and studding them 

 with flashing jewels snatched from undying flames ; and, inasmuch as 

 she has endowed some with such richness of colour, so also has the 

 fickle goddess . witheld from others the wealth of subtle harmony and 

 forcible contrast with which their brethren are furnished : giving unto 

 them dark and sombre shadows, and pluming their pinions with 

 feathers black as the raven's wing. Yet are one and all modelled with 

 the same exquisite skill, and, in no case, unqualified to meet the many 

 requirements of their tiny owners. The blending of colours and tints 

 is never obtrusive ; every sweeping curve and sheeny pigment is in 

 itself a study, but a reflection and lasting tribute to the Master Mind 

 that evolved them. 



Within the compass of the present paper, I must necessarily be 

 little more than superficial, and I would rather desire it to serve as an 

 introduction to a branch of entomology that will amply repay the 

 observer for an unlimited expenditure of time and labour. Personally, 

 I have found the subject replete with interest, though I have perforce 

 omitted much that has seemed to me deserving of minute investigation, 

 chiefly from the extreme paucity of working material to which I have 

 had access. Therefore have I borrowed freely on every hand, finding 



* The original illustrations to this article are drawn and engraved by the author. 



