NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 
177 
brought being 150 sorts. This year more are trying and are very much interested, 
looking for wild flowers on their walks to neighbouring parishes, or on occasional 
visits to the sea-side. One girl has already brought 170 species, and several others 
nearly as many. The prizes I give are filled or partly-filled stamp forms, to 
encourage the children to become depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank. 
Walpole Vicarage, Halesworth. Annie Tate. 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES AND QUERIES, 
Blackbird and Cat. — This spring, a blackbird built its nest in a tree in 
my garden. The young birds were hatched, and one morning a neighbour’s cat 
was on my lawn, when the cock blackbird caught sight of it, and began making 
a great noise with fluttering wings, and at last got into such a passion, that it not 
only followed the cat closely, but flew and settled on its back ; the cat was 
frightened and went in among some shrubs. The gardener who was looking on, 
tossed a pebble near the cat, when out she came, the blackbird was again 
furious, and again flew on its back ; the cat was so much alarmed that it ran off 
in a different direction, which ended the excitement. 
Patcham, Brighton. A. M. W. 
Who Sucked the Egg ? — In the garden of the Manor House, Little 
Shelford, Cambridge, a pair of oxeye titmice made their nest in a hollow tree, 
about a foot, or a foot and-half from the ground. After the eggs were laid they 
were disturbed, presumably by a cat, and three eggs, more or less broken, were 
dragged out on the ground below, and it was supposed that the parent birds were 
killed or frightenerl away. I had been much interested from the beginning, in 
the building of the nest, and waited for about a month, hoping the birds might 
have escaped and rebuilt, but having watched for hours and seen nothing of them, 
I pulled out a piece of moss from the opening of the hollow place to see if the 
remainder of the eggs were still left, and heard a sharp hissing sound, such as 
these birds generally make when intruded on, and this was repeated on every 
.subsequent attempt to examine the nest. At last, on Sunday (July ist) after 
watching the spot for more than an hour, I felt convinced that the birds were no 
longer there ; put in my hand in spite of the noise and took out an egg which 
was lying on the edge of the torn nest. On examination I found the egg was 
empty, and a tiny puncture at one side showed it had been sucked. On pushing 
a stick far in and moving it about, I dislodged six or eight bumble-bees, which 
came flying and buzzing out of the hole. They at once accounted for the noise 
heard, but could they be supposed guilty of puncturing the eggs which had 
clearly been left untouched by the first marauder? 
Exmouth. Mary C. Walton. 
Lemmings. — I am very anxious to keep a tame lemming ; will you kindly 
tell me if it would live in Ireland? and if so, what I should feed it on? Would 
a rabbit-hutch be suitable to keep a lemming in, or would it be necessary to 
keep it in the open air ? 
Ballintaggart, Colhinstown, Co. Kildare. Margaret Leslie Bonham. 
Partridge Carrying Young. — On the 25th June, when staying with my 
cousin at his beautiful place above the cliffs beyond Dawlish, I had been hay- 
making, and returning to the house by myself at 5 p.m., I passed through a small 
paddock where the grass had been cut four hours before, and the crop was very 
light. At ten yards from the gate, as I was looking to the right, two partridges 
got up at twelve yards’ distance from me. One bird (the cock, no doubt) was 
slightly ahead, and I particularly noticed that the hen bird looked exceedingly 
roomy underneath, and as I thought travelled heavily. She had not proceeded 
more than seven or eight yards, and was about three feet from the ground, when 
she appeared to fall, striking her breast on the ground, but, immediately recover- 
