364 



THE NATUEALIST. 



Wakefield Naturalists' Society. — On 

 the IStli March, Mr. Talbot exhibited 

 a number of beetles, among which was 

 Dorcus parallelopipedus, taken from an 

 elm, at Kirkthorpe, "Wakefield, nearly a 

 week previously. He gave a short account 

 of its habits, and stated that many trees 

 were being rapidly destroyed by them. 

 On the 5th April a great variety of speci- 

 mens were laid before the meeting. Mr. 

 Oxley exhibited a number of plants in 

 flower. Mr. Roberts laid upon the table 

 eggs of the Common Thrush ( Turdus musi- 

 cus, ) and of the Blackbird ( Turdus mer- 

 ula, taken on the 18th ultimo. Mr, Talbot 

 exhibited aimmberof beetles, Synodendram 

 cylindricum, taken from the willow. He had 

 also taken them from the ash. He also shewed 

 a great number of Coccinella 11-punctata, 

 found clustered beneath the bark of a tree. 

 On behalf of Messrs. Hindson and Mars- 

 den, he exhibited the complete skeleton 

 of a stoat thickly covered with feathers 

 from the brown owl. It was taken from a 

 hollow branch of an oak tree, at some dis- 

 tance from the ground. The gentlemen, 

 above-named surmise that the owl must 

 have carried off the stoat intending to dine 

 off him, and that he not being a consenting 

 party resisted, and the desperate struggle 

 resulted in the death of agressor and 

 victim, and thus they were found occu- 

 pying one common grave. 



An Invasion of Frozen-out Deer — As the 

 depth of snow deepened on the Braemar 

 hills and upland glens, the deer with their 

 usual precision, congregated upon the low 

 grounds. At first, with judicious care, hay 

 was sparingly laid out in small quantities ; 



but owing to the uniformly increasing 

 depth of snow during January, the 

 gamekeepers of both Old and New Mar 

 Lodge, with a staff of assistants, have 

 daily been laboriously engaged in laying 

 out large supplies of hay and other proven- 

 der at convenient situations, which was 

 greedily devoured almost as soon as given 

 out. The starved herds in most instances 

 followed closely in the wake of the carts of 

 hay, several of the leading stags even 

 becoming bold enough to snatch an occa- 

 sional mouthful on the route. Perhaps 

 the greatest difficulty experienced by the 

 gamekeepers was in protecting the weak 

 and young deer from the attacks of the 

 strong stags, which in several instances 

 boldly endeavoured to monopolise the con- 

 tents of the various heaps, to the exclusion 

 of others. In the vicinity of Old Mar 

 Lodge, and on the Carr Hill and adjoining 

 plateau to the east of the New Mar Lodge, 

 the stags have herded together in fabulous 

 numbers. In fact it would appear that the 

 strength of both forests has gathered at 

 these places. The proximity of such neigh- 

 bours, however, has been a source of trouble 

 and, in many instances, serious loss to the 

 farmers, whose stackyards, and turnips in 

 pits, and under other cover, have been 

 boldly attacked by the prowling invaders, 

 which, as the severity of the weather in- 

 creased, have become proportionately auda- 

 cious in their inroads. — Edinhurgh Evening 

 Courant. 



The other evening, a few miiiutes before 

 ten o'clock, the lioness " Alexandra," at 

 Mander's Grand Menagerie, now exhibiting 

 at Knot-mill fair, gave birth to nine fully- 

 developed cubs. Such a number at one 

 litter is unparallelled, the usual litter being 

 from two to four. Each of these interesting 

 little strangers represents a commercial 

 value of £150. 



Capture of a Golden Eagle. — Last week 

 a large golden eagle was captured at South 



