198 
NATURE NOTES. 
I forgave the careless traveller on the spot, and only wished I had a kodak tO’ 
secure a permanent picture of this unique strawberry festival.” 
Field Names. — In Canon Ellacombe’s paper on “Old Field Names” (p. 
164) I see he confesses to being puzzled by the name “ Pill Leaze.” Is not 
“pill” or “ pyll ” a Somerset word for a brook? The brook at Kilve is called 
“ The Pill.” If this is so, and there is a stream in or near the meadow called 
“Pill Leaze,” some light might be thrown on the subject. 
Midlmrst. Guy Landox. 
Wild Ducks’ Nests (p. 169). — Some years ago I found a wild duck’s 
nest about thirty feet from the ground in the fork of an elm on the bank of a 
river ; though I carefully watched I was not fortunate enough to see how the 
parent bird managed to fetch the young ones to the water from such an elevation. 
The following year, however, there was a nest in the same place, and having 
calculated the date at which the young were hatched, I had the satisfaction of 
seeing the parent bird flying from the nest and dropping the young into the 
water, a process repeated till the young ones were all brought down in safety. 
I was unable to see exactly how they were carried, whether, as woodcocks 
carry their young to the feeding-places, under the wings which were not fully ex- 
panded, as the bird dropped into the water in a slanting direction, or between the 
feet ; but certainly not in the beak, as the bird in descending uttered a peculiar 
sharp note or call. On mentioning what I had seen to an old lady of eighty in 
whose grounds the incident took place, she said,“ I have had a grievance and a 
feeling of injustice all my life ; I once when a girl saw an incident exactly such as 
you describe, and on relating it to my elders was severely punished and for a 
long time in disgrace for telling a story.” 
Clyst St. jUary. J. A. Kerr, LL.D. 
Ducks’ Nests (p. 169). — I was rather amused on reading Mr. G. A. 
Daubeny’s article, to And how ignorant he has been, till recently, of the fact of 
wild ducks building in trees. Every schoolfellow of mine in and around my 
native place {Alresford, Hants) was aware of the fact of ducks building in trees 
twenty years Itack ; and long before I was twelve years old I had taken eggs from 
ducks’ nests in trees at least half a mile from any pond or river, and from thirty 
to forty feet from the ground. I think in that case the theory of the bird carrying 
its brood (in some manner) to the water is more feasible than that of her kicking 
them out of the nest, and leading them to the water. In the case I mention such 
a proceeding would have proved fatal to the whole brood. 
John AV. Redferx. 
A Daddj^-Iong-Iegs Note. — I was recently feeding a newly emerged 
dragon-fly (^Tsclina cyanea), and amongst other luxuries gave him a large daddy- 
long-legs {Tipula gigautea), which he seized just below the thorax. The daddy- 
long-legs struggled, and, as a result, the head and thorax, to which are attached 
the two wings and the six legs, flew off, leaving the dragon-fly to enjoy the 
abdomen in peace. Thinking to end a painful existence, I searched the room for 
the missing head and thorax, but in vain. Three hours after, whilst sitting read- 
ing, the missing portion came buzzing round me, and then made for the window, 
where it continued its gambols until dusk. To prevent its flying into the gas when 
lighted, as these insects are always attracted by a light, I placed it under a venti- 
lated shade containing some ferns, where it lived for upwards of thirty-six hours 
after losing its abdomen, frequently flying round the glass as though uninjured. 
R. M. AV. 
AA^keat. — The interesting paper on “ The Growth of AA’heat ” in this month’s 
number of N.vruRE Notes has suggested to me the idea that some of our mem- 
bers may be interested by an extract from an old book called ‘ The Weekly Enter- 
tainer, or agreeable and interesting repository,’ from January to June, 1809. This 
contains an account of what the Rev. Dr. Drake, of Amersham, did in his own 
garden: — “ On the ist of August I sowed a single grain of wheat, and in the 
latter end of September, when the plant had tillered, I took it up and divi- 
ded it into four sets of slips. Those four slips I planted and they grew 
and tillered as well as the most. In the end of November I took them up a 
second time, and made thirty-six plants or sets. These I again planted, which grew 
