73 
NATURE NOTES. 
which Waterton shows his love for birds. It is a spirited plea for the woodpecker 
put in the bird’s own mouth, but too long for reproduction here. Our corres- 
pondent adds : “ And may I correct two very trifling errata in my own letter : 
‘ Brislington ’ should have been ‘Bridlington.’ I almost always write it 
‘ Burlington,’ as pronounced, but somehow did not in this instance. The former 
is near Bristol, and therefore by the west coast, as the latter is on the exactly 
opposite east, which was the point of which I wrote. ‘ Violet ’ should have 
been ‘violets.’” 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Specimens Named. — The plant from Warbleton Rectory seems to be 
Gautheria Shallort, of North West America ; but we should be glad to see speci- 
mens in flower. The dried plants sent by Miss Wraxall are Senebiera Coronopus, 
Polygala vulgaris, and Kadiola linoiiles. The plant which so suddenly made its 
appearance is Claytonia perfoliata, a naturalised North American. “Osmund’s” 
ferns are Ophioglosswn vulgatum and Asplenium marinum. 
Butterflies in Winter. — In answer to a question in the last number of 
Nature Notes, about the time of appearance of the peacock butterfly (Vanessa 
Jo) it cannot be said that February 27th is an “ unusually early ” date. And for 
his reason : many butterflies in the winter months are in the habit of hibernat- 
ing. Consequently when an unusually warm and sunny day comes, some of the 
more lively of the insects awake from their state of torpidity, and show themselves. 
It is not an infrequent occurrence to see in “ local ” papers that a specimen of 
such and such a butterfly appeared in church on Christmas Day, and the “appear- 
ance may be taken as an auspicious omen 1 ” I have myself seen this year on two 
very mild days in January the small tortoiseshell ( V. urticce) on the wing. July 
is the month (according to my observations for four successive seasons) for the 
peacock butterfly to emerge in its natural state. F. A. Hort. 
Emmanuel College, Cambridge. 
The Rev. F. O. Morris, author of the History of British Butterflies, writes ; — 
“ The peacock butterfly, of which your correspondent, Miss Katherine Whitaker, 
records an early appearance, is one of several others of the same class, such as 
the red admiral, small tortoiseshell, large tortoiseshell, comma, or C-album, 
Camberwell beauty, &c. , as also the brimstone, which hibernate and live through the 
winter in a torpid state in some sheltered spot, such as an out-building or a room 
in a house, into which they have retired when the first winter days have warned 
them. From these they often come out the first hot day in the beginning of the 
year and fly about in the sunshine. Any that Gilbert White, or any other person 
or persons, have taken note of, have been of the previous year’s specimens, and not 
newly come out. The same applies to the brimstone, long doubted about as to 
this point ; but there is now no doubt that it has been so with it also, though 
often perfectly fresh in appearance, while the others are always more or less 
faded, it probably having been hatched later on in the autumn.” 
The proper time for the appearance of the peacock butterfly is the middle of 
July, but, like all the butterflies of the Vanessa tribe, many of these insects sur- 
vive the winter, having found some secluded corner in which to remain dormant 
with their wings closed, and then they occasionally appear on a warm sunny day 
not only in February, but at any time during the winter. From Miss Whitaker 
having observed the butterfly in a bay window I feel sure that it had hibernated 
in some corner of the room. There are few years in which some specimens of the 
small tortoiseshell butterfly ( V. urticce) do not find a corner for themselves during 
the winter in my house, and my children and myself have often observed them 
day after day in their lethargic state ; one has been with us this winter and has 
occasionally disported himself on the window pane. There were many butterflies 
of this sort in the gardens here during the few last warm days in February. I 
have myself, at various times, when February and the beginning of March have 
