f) 
THE GAUDENERS' AND NATURALISTS' CALENDAR FOR JUNE. 
271 WP 
J. 
fields about them, which we can but see and enjoy in 
hui-ried exom'sious. A. H. 
ANIMAL KINGDOM. 
Ornithology. — June is a busy month with our 
little featheiy friends, there is more work and less sing- 
ing, their time is almost entirely employed in providing 
for the wants of theii' infant families, and what a wide 
and interesting field of observation there is here for 
the inquiiing mind. From the mighty Eagle who rears 
her young on the mountain top, to the little Swallow 
that constructs her clay-built house in oiu' window 
corners ; how varied are the forms and materials used 
by birds in the construction of dwelling-places for their 
young. To watch the erection of one of these little 
houses is highly interesting ; to see how perseveringly 
they work fi-om the laying of the first straw until the 
placing of the last feather, when their home is readj' to 
receive those little germs which, nm-tured by a mother's 
breast, in due time bm-st into life. Poor helpless things, 
how short would be their existence but for a mother's 
care ; she appears to live for them alone, and would 
freely sacrifice her own life for their safety. TVe were 
ouce like her callous brood, poor, helpless things, depen- 
dent on a mother's love, which, in after life, is often 
but poorly repaid, more to om- shame, for the name of 
mother should be to us as a holy word. 
In the examination of the nests of birds, the most 
careless observer cannot fail to be struck with the fact 
that the generality of our resident bh'ds construct nests 
considerably warmer than those, that are only summer 
visitors. Take, for example, the nest of the house 
Sparrow {Passer domestieus), and compare it with that 
of the Black Cap {Ctirriica atricapilla), or Gai-den 
Warbler ( Curnica hortcnsis') ; the former is a large mass 
of straw, hay, paper, tlu-ead, and other miscellaneoiis 
articles, and warmly lined with feathers ; the latter, 
only a few rooty fibres, so spaiingly used that the eggs 
may be seen through both the bottom and sides. This 
is one of Nature's secrets ; here is a bird that resides 
with us during the year constructing a nest, the heat of 
which must bo like that of an oven, while the one that 
flees from om' shores at the fii-st breath of winter, only 
requii'es one of so frail a natui'c that it barely supports 
the eggs. This is certainly a mystery, and one, with 
aU our boasted knowledge, we are miable to solve. 
Towards the end of the month, the gardener will be 
rather annoj^ed by the frequent ATsits of various species 
of bu'ds to all the smaller kinds of fruit that are just 
begimring to ripen ; amongst the visitors will be foimd 
the foUo^ving birds: — The Black Cap, White Throat 
{Gurrtwa cineyea), Garden Warhlei', Lesser T^Tute 
Throat {Curruca ffcirnila), and Eobin {Erythaca ruhe- 
culd), who is the most dcsti-uctive of the whole, and of 
so jealous a disposition that he attacks and drives every 
bird away that attempts to invade his territory ; the vene- 
ration in which he is generally held is his protection, and 
the less guilty bird is often sacrificed for depredations 
he has committed. Amongst the early cherries, the 
Blackbird {Morula vulgaris)^ Starling {Stnrmts mdgctris')^ 
and Sparrow {Passer (?&y;^f5^^f^ts), are the most destruc- 
tive, the two former carrying the fruit away whole, the 
latter so disfiguring it as to render it useless ; these 
depredations are at times rather considerable, but still 
we say spare the depredators, for has not the Blackbird 
cheered us with his song ; wo admire the Starling for 
his sociability ; and is not the Spari'ow om' fellow- 
lodger, dwelling with us imder the same roof. H. W. 
Entomology. — This is the month in which the en- 
tomologist will be sure to obtain the most abundant 
supply of insects, more especially among the Beetles 
{Coleoptera), and Butterflies and Moths {Zcpidoptera) . 
He will, therefore, now find the firllest employment, 
either in the capture of the objects of his pm'suit or in 
setting them, that is, in expanding their wings properly 
and drying them for the cabinet. For the amateur, a 
gauze bag, about half a yard long, and about a foot in 
diameter at the mouth, lake a fisherman's landing-net, 
only lighter, and with a long slender handle, is sufiicient ; 
but the professed entomologist needs a regular net, 
which is made like a bat fowUng-net, being a sheet of 
gauze net about a yard wide and a yard and a half 
long, with its long sides and top lapped round two 
slender handles, each bent at an angle towards the 
top. The bottom of the handles are held in the 
hands with the net outspread, but as soon as the 
insect is within reach the two sides are brought 
together (ia the same way as we shut a book), 
and the insect caught within the bag thus formed. 
If delicate, and likely to die immediately, or to 
rub itself to pieces before reaching home, the in- 
sect must then be killed by a sharp pinch on the 
breast, and a pin passed through the middle of the 
back, and then transferred to the corked pocket col- 
lecting-box ; but the better plan is to place each insect 
in a separate box (pHl-boxes are the best things for 
small ones), and not to kiU them till arriving at home, 
when the fumes of a few lucifer matches will instantly, 
and with the least amount of pain, put an end to their 
existence. They are then pinned and laid out on thin 
pieces of cork or setting boards, and their wings kept 
properly extended whUst drying by means of thin tri- 
angular braces of card. ^^Tien dry (and they must not 
be removed nntU they are thoroughly so) the braces 
may be removed, the wings wiU remain properly ex- 
tended, and the specimens ai'e ready for the cabinet, the 
ch-awers of which must be kept camphored, and must not 
be made of cedar wood. Small insects are fixed with 
gum arable upon slips of card. I have given these in- 
structions in as short and condensed a manner as pos- 
sible, knowing that many persons are deterred from 
collecting from not knowing how to set about it effec- 
tually, whilst hints like these will be sufficient to give 
any one an idea of the modes adopted by entomologists 
in forming and preparing their collections. 
The period for collecting the fii-st brood of Cater- 
pillars still continues, and now, from thegl•o^rth of many 
of the insects, they, or at least their ravages upon om- 
vegetable productions, become more e-iddent; now 
the Apple, Damson, and other fruit trees arc devas- 
tated by the Caterpillars of the Lackey Moth, which 
live in large societies, fonning webs of large size on 
the branches and twigs, inclosing therein a quantity of 
leaves, upon which they subsist for a time, and then 
passing to some other adjacent twig. K"ow the singular 
twig-like Catei-piUar of the Sn-allow-tailed Moth is 
found on the Apricot, surprising the imiiistructed by its 
remarkable power.of muscle, enabling it to keep itself 
rigidly outstretched at all kinds of angles for a gTcat 
length of time, holding on to the tn-ig only by its hind 
pau- of legs, and then, when danger is over, creeping away 
\vith the oddest possible kind of movement, like a pan- 
of animated compasse.?, whence this class of Catei-pillars 
have been termed Geometers or Loopers. Now, also, 
oirr CuiTant-bushes are devastated by the prettily-spotted 
Looper Caterpillars of the Magpie Moth, a very good 
plan for the collecting and destroying of which was some 
time since published iu one of the daily jom-nals. " A 
gardener at Glasgow has a mode of destroying Cater- 
pillars which ho discovered by accident. Apiece of 
woollen rag had been blown by the wind into a Cur- 
rant-bush, and when taken out was found covered with 
those leaf-destroying insects. He immediately placed 
pieces of woollen cloth in every bush in his garden, and 
found the next day that the Caterpillars had universally 
taken to them for shelter. In this way he desti-oyed 
many thousands every morning." 
'The difl:erent species of Daddy Long-legs (Tipididce) 
also make their appearance in the perfect state about 
n. 
