184 



THE NATURALIST. 



vulgaris, P. veris, &c. A somewliat novel 

 feature was the exhibition by the President, 

 in small saucers, of various inhabitants of 

 our stream, in a living state ; including 

 "Water Spiders {Hydrachna), Planorhis 

 spirorhis, Phijsa foiitinalis, and Paludina 

 similis ; various species of the Phryganidce, 

 in their curious dwellings ; and the fresh- 

 water Oniscus. The Rev. W. H. Painter 

 then gave a brief address, descriptive of 

 his recent visit to the interesting caves in 

 the Carboniferous Limestone, in the 

 vicinity of Ingleborough, Yorkshire, after 

 which the meeting terminated. 



Sixth Canversazio7ie, March 5th. Held 

 (by kind permission) at the house of T. 

 Wheeler, Esq. The first paper was by Mr. 

 Ullyett, on " The Pleasures of Moth 

 Hunting," which appears in No, 4, of the 

 Society's Quarterly Magazine. An inter- 

 esting geological paper, by Evan Hopkins, 

 Esq., which had been previously read 

 before the Victoria Institute, was then 

 read by T. Wheeler, Esq., and gave rise to 

 some discussion. The objects exhibited 

 comprised : — Dried Wild FloAvers ; Mi- 

 croscopic objects ; African Elephant bones; 

 Chalk Fossils ; and living Wild plants in 

 blossom ; with many other interesting spe- 

 cimens. The evening concluded with an 

 address "On the Mouths of Insects," by 

 the President ; which was copiously illus- 

 trated by the aid of diagrams, coloured 

 drawings, and the microscope. 



Perthshire Natural Science Society. — The 

 first ordinary meeting of this society was 

 held in Perth, on the evening of March 7th, 

 the president in the chair. Mr. John 

 Dawson, exhibited some early flowering 

 plants which he had collected, among 

 which were, Petasites alhus ? which is na- 



turalised near Perth, Potentilla Fragarias- 

 trum, Viola hirta, (in bud) Mercurialis 

 perennis, Lamium purpureum, etc. The 

 president then gave an inaugural address, 

 stating the objects for which the society 

 was formed and the richness of the Fauna 

 and Flora of the county, and urging on 

 the members to energy in the pursuit of 

 Natural History. Naturalists wishing to 

 become corresponding members of the 

 society, should address the secretary, Mr. 

 Stewart, 28, St. John-street, Perth. 



Rare Birds in Leadenhall Market. — On 

 the 16th of November, I was fortunate 

 enough to obtain an adult male specimen 

 of the Spotted Crake, Crex porzana, in 

 good preservation, and on the 7th of 

 December, I purchased a Temminck's 

 Stint, Tringa Temminckii, both of which 

 are in my collection. — John Buurell, 

 Lej'-tonstone, N.E. 



Grey Parrot. — A person in this neigh- 

 bourhood possesses a grey parrot which 

 produced three eggs last week, two of 

 which were laid from the perch and are 

 consequently broken slightly ; but the 

 other 1 have in my possession, perfect — 

 they are about the size of the Ring Dove, 

 Columha palumhus, but rather more oval, 

 in shape. Last winter just before Chiist- 

 mas the bird also laid three eggs. The 

 owner informs me that this parrot has 

 been in his possession fifteen years. 

 Thinking these facts might be interesting 

 to some of your readers. I have taken the 

 liberty of forwarding them to you. — John 

 BuEE,ELL, Leytonstone, N.E. 



