NOTES AND QUERIES. 
1ST 
food, carrots, bran and oats, and plenty of hay. See that the hutch is well drained 
and kept very clean. E. B. 
Flowering Plants Named (“ Rusticus,” Ferns, Co. Wexford). — (i) Cale- 
opsis, not in flower, probably G. Tetrahit (Hemp-nettle) ; (2) Stachys, probably S. 
palustris (Woundwort) ; (3) Lithospermum arvense (Growell) ; (4) Lepidium 
campestre (Pepperwort) ; (5) Hypericum (?) perforatum (perforated S. John’s wort) ; 
(6) Valerianella dentata (Lamb’s-lettuce) ; (7) Geranium dissection (Dove’s-foot 
Geranium) ; (8) Geum urbanum (Avens) ; (9) Veronica arvensis (Field Speedwell); 
(10) Orobanche minor (Lesser Broomrape) ; (11) Veronica humifusa (Decumbent 
Speedwell); (12) Veronica officinalis (Common Speedwell) ; (13) Umbellifer — not 
in flower; (14) Aiopecurus pratensis (Fox-tail grass); (15) Bromus communis 
(Brome-grass) ; (16) Deschampsia ccespitosa (Hare’s-tail grass) (17) Rumex 
acetosella (Sheep’s Sorrel) ; (18) Luzula (L. sylvatical) (Wood-rush). [We shall 
be much obliged if correspondents who send flowers to be named will send perfect 
specimens in flower. In the case of Umbellifers , it is often necessary to have 
fruit as well for complete identification. We do not wish to unduly trouble the 
botanists at Kew or the British Museum, who so kindly assist us, by sending to 
them imperfect and immature specimens. — E d., N. N.] 
E. D., Richmond, Yorkshire, is quite correct as to Nos. 1 and 2, Beta marilima 
and Phleum pratense. The other two plants she sends are Carices, No. 3, C. 
arenaria and No. 4 C. ovalis These plants were so carefully arranged and sent 
in such good condition that there was not the slightest difficulty in immediately 
identifying them. The plants sent by Mrs. Meade-Waldo, Barmoor Castle, is 
Impatiens paroiflora , which has established itself as a weed in many English 
counties. That from Mrs. G. A. Musgrave is Alimulus luteus, which for the last 
fifty years is given in English floras as having naturalised itself in many damp and 
boggy places. Miss Agnes Martelli’s plant is Silene Otitcs and Mrs. A. Maitland 
Wood’s Atriplex angustifolia. Although specimens sent by Miss Peyton from 
Cdnrhaiadr, Machynlleth, were carefully packed and thoroughly examined, there 
was no trace of the orange-coloured growth of which she wrote. 
Curious Nesting Places. — The Rev. D. W. Barrett, Barnet Rectory,, 
sends us the following cutting from an old Grantham journal which gives a 
parallel case to the instance mentioned by Miss Helen Wake (Nature Notes, 
p. 79) under the heading “ A Muscovy Duck.” 
“ Birds have always been remarkable for choosing strange and unaccountable 
places for laying and hatching their eggs. A hen, the property of Mr. John 
Cragg, builder, of Ancaster, being evidently disgusted with the nursery accommo- 
dation provided in the hen-house, chose, in preference, a willow tree standing in 
a neighbouring paddock. Among the branches, some fifteen feet high, she made 
her nest of twigs, straw, leaves, &c. , and laid eight eggs. A few days ago she 
brought out six healthy chicks. The astonishment of the worthy builder may be 
imagined on seeing the happy mother proudly strutting in his yard surrounded by 
her little offspring. How they managed to get down from their lofty nursery is a 
mystery.” 
Matrimonial Troubles of Swans.— The Rev. J. A. Kerr writes from 
The Rectory, Clyst St. Mary, Exeter : “ A pair of swans have a brood of six 
cygnets, now about as large as the common duck. The male bird was most 
attentive to the female while hatching, and boldly defended the nest and young, 
but lately attacks her with the greatest fury, and has denuded her almost entirely 
of the wing feathers, driving her off the pond, and exhibiting symptoms of the 
greatest rage, by the ruffling of his feathers and making an angry gurgling noise 
whenever she attempts to come near the cygnets. Perhaps some of the readers 
of Nature Notes may be able to suggest an explanation of these curious facts.” 
