THE YOrXG NATURALIST. 



V 



thirteen months. 



Abroad it' is to be met with in all the 

 wooded countries of Europe, in North Africa, 

 and in North America, where it has been 

 observed as far north as the 57th parallel. 



Nest- — The nest is sometimes placed in 

 a tree, but generally it is built upon an over- 

 hanging ledge of some cliff. Not unfrequently 

 the deserted nest of a crow or that of some 

 similar bird will be adopted and repaired; 

 This bird has been known to attack and 

 drive a pair of ravens from their nest, which 

 was then taken possession of by the aggressor. 

 The nest when built by the Buzzard itself is 

 very roujhly put together, and is composed 

 of sticks or heather lined with some softer 

 substance, such as heather tops, grass, or 

 hair. 



Eg"g"S — The number of eggs laid by this 

 species is generally two, sometimes three. 

 They are greyish white, more or less spotted, 

 streaked, or blotched, with red brown. From 

 a statement in Hewitson's ••Illustrations" it 

 would appear that the eggs laid by young 

 birds are more devoid of markings than those 

 laid by birds of more advanced age. 



Varieties sometimes occur with neutral 

 gray markings in .id in among the red, 

 which give the egg a very beautiful appear- 

 ance ; at other times they are white, without 

 any markings of any kind. The Common 

 Buzzard is said to be remarkably attached to 

 its egg or young, and one kept in captivity 

 sat and successfully brought up a brood of 

 common fowls. 



BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



By J. E. Robsox ; with figures from life by 

 >S. L. IvIoslev. 



Assisted by Contributors to the Y. N.i 



Genus IV., Vanessa. 



" Vanessa, F., ; Vanes'sa probably from \ 

 Swift's poem of Cadenus and Vanessa, in 

 which the. Dean (Decanus) tells the story of : 



his love for Esther ( Rjs.i ) Vanhomburgh. 

 Sodoffsky proposes P.'unussa a Neo-Platonic 

 name for the God of Love." — A.L, 



A genus of between twenty and thirty 

 species, all of which inhabit temperate 

 countries. About one third of them are Eu- 

 ropean, and five are recognized as British. 

 Most, if not all, of them pass the winter in the 

 winged state, some of them retiring directly 

 after emergence, others continuing on the wing 

 a long time in the autumn. Some of these 

 are conjectured to be double brooded, but we 

 think this is more than doubtful. They are 

 very closely allied to the preceding genus, 

 some authors including At.iLiut.i with it, 

 while one of our British species — C. album has 

 been placed in the genus Qmpta, which later 

 writers include with Vanessa. 



The British species may be thus distin- 

 guished — 



1 Wings dull red, an eyed spot at the 



tip of each V. Io. 



2 Wings chocolate red, a whitish bor- 



der to all wings V. Antiopa. 



3 Wings orange red. 

 A A black spot on costa of hind- 



wirig V. Polychlorus 



B The base of hind-wing black 



V. Urtic;e 

 C Several biack spots on hind- 

 wing. The margin much 

 angulated V. C-album 



22, Io. Lin;:. PI. 11, Fig. 3. 



THE PEACOCK. 



Io, L., Id, a Grecian heroine, famous for her 

 beauty and her misfortune;. Ovid, Met. i, 

 58S." — A.L. Dryden's translation 1, 79"). 



Imag'O. — Plate 11, Fig. 3. Forewing dull 

 dark purple red, with the hind-margin brown, 

 a large eyed spot at the tip, two black 

 blotches on the costa, and several small blue 

 spots upon and below the eye. Hin 1 wing 

 similar in colour, the eye black in a yellowish 

 ring, with two blue spots across the centre. 



Larva. — Plate n,Fig. a. Black, covered 

 with branched black spines, and studded with 1 



