76 
NATURE NOTES 
left, behind ; the humming kept on never altering or wavering, a high pitched 
indescribable note far beyond the top C of the piano, and nearing those 
harmonics which the ear is unfitted to transmit properly, and which bring into 
use a mid-sense — a sense between hearing and feeling. 
I continued my walk. Bees were busy on the thistle flowers, hover flies and 
others were flashing here and there, large bumbles would swing into sight and 
sway off again in long heavy curves, but the mysterious humming continued 
through all. Now it seemed to come from the ground ! At the top I lay down to 
enjoy the view and get a rest, as the sun was beating down fiercely and it was 
very close. I laid my ear against the earth out of curiosity. It certainly was not 
coming from there. I felt disgusted and laying back gazed vacantly into the 
blue. At once I saw the cause of it all. Right above me about three or four feet 
from the ground a line of tiny black gnats were playing in a long vertical line. 
As I rose up they rose also and followed me wherever 1 went, keeping the same 
vertical line and the same distance, viz., a little behind the back of the head and 
about a foot or more above it, a most difficult position for discovering them, and 
also a position where their sound would not be well located by the ear. I 
sprang into the air trying to upset their line and disperse them, but they' per- 
severingly reformed and continued playing. At the bottom of the fields I had 
to pass through a wood, here they vanished, the sound gradually dying away. It 
was quite a relief. I believe I am right in saying gnats and their allies play in 
short vertical lines, while alder-flies, &c. , play' in long horizontal lines. The 
former they play by dropping straight and returning to the same point again in 
zigzags to dodge those on their way down. The latter, generally playing over 
pools, do the same, only horizontally. I believe this will e.xplain Mr. Gibbons’ 
note. 
F. J. Partridge. 
SELBORNE SOCIETY NOTICES. 
Special General Meeting. — At a well attended Meeting of Members, 
the new rules, as presented by the Council, were discussed and adopted ; a copy 
of these rules has now been forwarded to each Member of the Society. 
Annual Meeting and Conversazione.— This has been arranged for 
Friday, May 27, and will be held in the Theatre and Halls in Burlington 
Gardens (formerly the University of London), by the kind permission of the 
Civil Service Commissioners. Any Member de.sirous of exhibiting objects of 
Selbornian interest is requested to send particulars to the Secretary so that he 
may place them before the Committee. 
Council Meetings. — The usual monthly meeting of the Council will be 
held at 20, Hanover Square, W., on Monday, April 25, at 5.30 p.tn. ; and the 
Publications Committee on Tuesday, April 12, 5.30 p.m. 
New Members. — Edward Collett, Esq., Tilford ; Chas. Mitchell Hall, 
Esq., Bowes Park; T. Ernest Waltham, E.sq., Upper Tulse Hill; Samuel 
Gardner, Esq., Harrow ; Miss Mary Smith, Fritton Lung ; Miss .Madeline Ixohn, 
Queen’s Gate; J. Fraser .Spencer, Esq., Streatharn Hill; Mrs. Percival Park, 
Primrose Hill; Thos. Greenhill, Esq., and .Mrs. Greenhill, Hampstead; Miss 
Dunford and Miss E. M. Dutiford, South Hampstead; Chas. J. Ashton, Esq., 
Calford; E. J. Burr, Esq., Hampstead; Walter P. Harrison, Esq., Brighton; 
Earl of Mutisfield, Hampstead; W. P. Pycraft, Esrp, A. L.S., F.Z.S., &c., 
Kensington; Miss Kate Webb, 11 ighgate ; Mrs. M. L. Cooke, Highgate ; Fred 
Clayton, Estp, Hampstead; Richard Burbidge, Esq., Hatis Mansions, S.W. ; C. 
P'ield, Esq., Muswell Hill ; Mrs. Chas. Johnston, Hampstead. 
Subscriptions. — The Council beg to acknowledge the following subscrip- 
tions over 5s. : Chas. Mitchell Hall, Exp, 6s. ; R. C. Lowther, Esq., 7s. 6d. ; 
F. C. Stewart, Esq., 10s. ; MissE. Stevenson, los. ; S.rrnuel Gardner, Esq., 21s. ; 
Rev. W. A. tshaw, M.A., los. ; E. J. Burr, Esq., 2Is. ; Mrs. Arthur Hill, 21s.; 
Richard Burbidge, E^q., 21s. 
Donation. — L.ady Joyce, 5s. 
