THE YOUNG 



NATURALIST. 



119 



field School Board to take out classes of 

 elder boys and girls into the country for 

 instruction in natural history. Persons in 

 other towns would do well to adopt a simi- 

 lar course. 



The Present Season. — In order to bear- 

 ing testimony to the forward state of the 

 present season, I may say that a week ago 

 (March 4th) I spent the afternoon on Bid- 

 ston Hill, near Birkenhead, and during the 

 time I was there I saw several hive-bees 

 (Apis mellifica) and quite a number of the 

 common humble-bee (Bombus lucorum ) doing 

 their utmost to collect honey or pollen from 

 the flowers of the gorse (Ulex). Various 

 beetles, such as Aphodius penitarius a.nd pro - 

 dromus, and Philonthus politus and laminatus, 

 were flying about in the hot sunshine in 

 hundreds. — John W. Ellis, ioi, Everton 

 Road, Liverpool, March nth, 1883. 



QUERIES. 



21. 



Cleaning Coral. — Can any readers of 

 the " Young Naturalist " tell me how to 

 clean coral, and especially how to remove 

 the unsightly patches of paint frequently 

 put on the ends of the branches. — R.O.W. 

 22. 



Sudden Appearance of Plants. — I have 

 heard that the London rocket (Sisymbrium 

 Irio) sprung up in large numbers on the 

 ruins of London after the great fire. Is 

 this authentically correct ; are there any 

 similar instances on record ; and how are 

 they accounted for ?— J. G.H. 



23- 



Birds finding a Fresh Mate. — I have 

 read more than once of birds, generally 

 birds of prey, I think, that when their mate 

 had been shot or trapped, found another 

 mate almost immediately. As single birds 

 of prey are rarely noticed in the breeding 

 season, how is this explained ? — ^J.W.B. 



REPLIES. 



2. 



Fuliginosa Larva in Spring. — In an- 

 swer to your query as to spring feeding of 

 A. fuliginosa, I found one nearly full-fed 

 larva last year on the gth March on Lamium 

 in the company of caja. It spun up on the 

 17th and emerged on Easter Monday, the 

 same day as the precocious caja mentioned 

 in the Entomologist of June last. This was 

 probably an isolated instance, however, and 

 not one to be relied on. — Sidney Webb, 

 Dover. 



6. 



H. Dispar in England. — As will be seen 

 by our yearly list of captures, we have never 

 taken a specimen of H. dispar in this neigh- 

 bourhood. — N. Prescott Decie, Bockleton 

 Court, Hereford. 



7- 



Differences between Lonicer^ and 

 Trifolii. — In " Newman's British Moths," 

 the difference between Z. lonicera and Z. 

 trifolii is given as follows : — "The antennae 

 of lonicera are more pointed, the fore-wings 

 rather more pointed also, and the border of 

 the hind wings distinctly narrower than in 

 trifolii." Last summer we took a great 

 quantity of larvae from one locality in hopes 

 of obtaining specimens of both species, but 

 we were disappointed, as they all proved to 

 be lonicera. — R. Prescott Decie. 



10. 



Attracting Insects by Burning Mag- 

 nesium Wire. — We tried two or three times 

 in the summer and autumn of 1881 to attract 

 moths by burning some magnesium wire for 

 a few minutes, but without success. — N. 

 Prescott Decie. 



14. 



Birds Ejecting Pellets.-OwIs swallow 

 their prey entire and eject the indigestible 

 portions, i.e., the bones, feathers of birds, fur 

 of mice, etc., in the form of pellets. In the 

 same manner Eagles, Hawks and Shrikes, 

 though many of the two former species use 



