1889] 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



Notes and Observations. 



Early Nesting. — On March 30th, I found two song thrushes' 

 nests, with four eggs in each. One lot was very nearly hatched. A 

 friend of mine also found a nutcracker's nest with eggs. Is not this 

 rather earlier than usual ? The robins and jackdaws have been hard 

 at work at their nests for some time. — D. H. Stewart, Oxford. 



Entomological Nomenclature and Hufnagel's Descriptions. 

 — By the kindness of a good friend I have seen a paper on " Hufnagel's 

 Types" in the Entomologist, Vol. 22, page 109, and it is proof that 

 Hufnagel's names ought never to have been dug up, much less ought 

 they to have been used to supersede names with good figures and good 

 descriptions, which we all could understand. What stronger evidence 

 could there be that Hufnagel's description cannnot be comprehended 

 than that the translator of them has had to excuse them because they 

 were old, and to explain -them because they do not explain themselves. 

 I confess, a description " partly bluish, partly light, partly dark grey, 

 with a latin W on the hind-margin," gives me no idea what moth is 

 intended, because I have never seen a phalaena, Foreign or British, 

 to which such an obscure description would apply. The same 

 remarks apply to the next insect " brownish grey " (if there ever was 

 such a colour) " with white and yellow markings, which are generally 

 surrounded with brown." " Hind- wings light yellow, with a broad 

 brown margin." The last remark just recalls to my mind the Yellow 

 under- wing, not the light yellow under- wing ! For the life of me 

 I can't tell which, because I do not know how big " the first size " is ; 

 but, if any one can tell from " yellowish grey with two brown curved 

 and toothed and two wavy transverse lines of the third size " that our 

 present A . cursored is meant, I throw up my hat to him and take a 

 back seat. No one ever doubted the existence of these ancient 

 so-called descriptions in the " Berlin Magazine," but every person 

 of standing in amateur entomology doubted, nay, objected to such 

 rubbish being forced upon us. Guenee, in the introduction to his 

 great work on the " Noctuae of the World" observed, "that when 

 figures or descriptions in old books were crude or bad, he did not 

 follow them," &c, and all the entomologists since then have followed 

 the same good plan, and even those who use them require a saving 

 clattse, as in the last line, where our friend says " there is little doubt 

 in my mind that Staudinger was right," &c, still there is a little doubt, 

 and as Josh Billings so tersely puts it, " when there is enny doubt 

 about ennything, you may depend upon the doubt." I have read and 

 re-read this article, but am not enlightened by it one little bit, further 

 than that I am certainly confirmed by it in my opinion that it is 

 simply folly to dig up this old rubbish. A mischievous elf at my elbow 

 offers me a leather medal if I can name a moth from the following 

 description, partly bluish, partly light, partly dark grey, with a 

 latin W on the hind-margin." I have given it up, and yet it seems 

 an easier riddle than many Hufnagel set in the old time !—C. S. 

 Gregson, Liverpool, 12th April, 1888. 



