THE YOUNG NATUJ.iAL.18T. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Sirs, — I hope you will continue to insist on 

 the importance of making local collections 

 and local lists branches of Natural 

 History. We are here wanting a purely i 

 Local Museum to represent the Fauna and I 

 Flora of our district. In my humble opinion 

 there should be one general museum as good j 

 as it can be made for the whole of the North- ; 

 ern counties — say at Manchester— and all 

 foreign specimens of any value should go 

 there. For a large town like Huddersfield 

 there might be a collection of Typical forms 

 for educational purposes, but there should 

 certainly be one to illustrate the natural 

 history of the neighbourhood. The laws that 

 govern the distribution of species are very 

 obscure, and can only be got at by many 

 naturalists in different districts working to 

 the same end. An illustration of the 

 necessity for working a district closely has 

 come before me lately. In ray garden at 

 Colwyn Bay Epiinda Xigra, which I have 

 never taken, or heard of being taken, in any 

 other part of our district (though on the 

 Birkenhead side it has been well worked), 

 is not only generally common, but this 

 Autumn was absolutely the commonest 

 species of moth at sugar, on the two occasions 

 on which I tried. On one of these it was 

 actually in the proportion of 4 to i to any 

 other species. — Yours truly, 



Alfred O. Walker, (F.L.S.,) Chester. 

 Nov. 29. 



NOTES, CAPTURES, &C., 



Night Heron in Essex. — A female speci- 

 men of the Night Heron ( Nycticorax griseas ) 

 was shot at Dovercourt, on the 29th November 

 last, it is in the immature or spotted plumage 

 and weighed 1 lb 11 oz.— F. Kerry j Harwich. 



Abraxas Grossulariata in November. — 

 Mr. C. S. Gregson, of Liverpool, has recently 

 sent us some specimens of Abraxas grossulariata, 

 bred in November. He promises a note upon 

 the subject, which will, no doubt, be very 

 interesting. 



Coleopteha at York. — Taking the advice 

 of my friend Mr. Gregson, that " work wins," 

 I had the good fortune to take (last Sunday 

 morning, 28th Nov.,) two specimens, male 

 and female, of that fine insect, Chlacnius 

 nigricomius, on Fulfare Ings, in profusion. I 

 also took Anchomenus junccus-parmupunctatus, 

 Selpha atrata, and about 10 Staphylinus eryih- 

 ropierus, a very fine Brachaiytrous insect, all at 

 tree roots, on the edge of the flooded fields 

 there. — John H. Smedley, Fossgate, York. 



BRITISH BIRDS ; THEIR 

 NESTS AND EGGS. 



S. L. Moslev. 



Genus 1 1 — Pandion, Savigny. 



Pan Dion. — " The Greek name of a hero 

 changed into a bird of prey." — Morris. 



Again, only one species of this genus inhab- 

 its Britain. In size it is less than the Eagles. 

 The wings are large and rounded, the second 

 and third quill feathers being the longest. 

 The legs are short and thick and the tarsus 

 covered with rough scales. The toes are 

 similarly clothed, and the under surface is set 

 with pointed scales which assist in holding 

 its slippery prey. The outer toe is longer 

 than the inner ones, and can be turned side- 

 ways like that of the owl. 



3. OSPREY. 

 Pandion haiiaetus, Linn. 

 Fish hawk, (America). 

 Mullet hawk, (S. of England). 

 Pish ljuse, (Sweden). 

 Tschiftscha, (Lapland). 

 Aquila plumba, (Italy). 

 Halasaaaki, (East Bothnia), 

 Haliaetus. — Halus (Gr.) marine ; aietits 

 j (Gr.) eagle. 



1 Size. — Length of male about two feet, 

 i expanse a little over five feet. A female 

 ! killed in Staffordshire by Mr. F. Bond, F.Z.S., 

 j on October 22nd, 1834, measured 6 ft. 7 in, 



from tip to tip. 

 i Plumage. — The adult male has the bill 



