8 
Notes and Comments. 
eggs of the pipit, and presently eats it. The “planing” 
down of the cuckoo from a high tree, and the alighting within 
a few feet of the nest, were most realistically shown/ 
UNNATURAL ‘ NATURE.’ 
‘ But the most wonderful of the whole series of pictures 
were those which showed the young cuckoo, though but two 
days old, blind, and naked, making the most determined 
efforts to raise its foster-brothers on to its back and up over 
the edge of the nest, thrusting its lean limbs backwards to 
assure itself by the sense of touch whether its efforts had 
succeeded. There was something indescribably diabolical and 
horrible about the whole of the proceedings. The first 
attempt failed, the downy, struggling body of the nestling 
to be ejected being saved from falling over the edge of the nest 
by a projecting twig. At this juncture the foster-mother 
returned and, unconcernedly feeding both her own youngster, 
gasping on the rim of the nest, and the young cuckoo, took 
both and brooded them. No sooner had she left them for more 
food than the work of eviction began afresh, and this time 
was accomplished successfully. Immediately after the only 
remaining rival was also thrown Out.’ 
SHAP GRANITE. 
In an article on ‘ The Stones of London,’ by J. V. Elsden 
and J. A. Howe, in The Quarry, we learn that ‘ The Shap 
granite, quarried at Wasdale Crag, Westmorland, is a 
conspicuous feature in the decorative architecture of London 
streets. This granite is readily recognised by the character- 
istic large crystals of pink felspar, in rectangular sections 
scattered through a matrix of smaller felspars, dark mica and 
quartz. There are two shades, dark and light, differing 
chiefly in the colour of the ground mass. The stone may be 
seen in the polished facades of many buildings. Amongst 
these may be mentioned the Midland Railway Station and 
Hotel, St. Pancras ; Grand Hotel, Charing Cross ; Holborn 
Restaurant ; Mercers’ Hall, Poultry ; and many others. Shap 
granite forms the material for the polished stone posts round 
St. Paul’s Cathedral, and it was used in the Temple Bar 
Memorial. It was employed also in the Prince Consort 
Memorial, Hyde Park ; the Palmerston Memorial, Palace 
Yard ; and elsewhere. Shap granite had an extensive vogue 
in the late Victorian architecture of London streets. It is 
most effective in polished columns and pilasters, which may 
be seen of considerable size. It looks well in combination 
with other varieties of polished granite of different shades 
and colour, and even in less conspicuous uses its decorative 
effect may be noticed in many of the business thoroughfares/, 
Naturalist 
