THE GOAT MOTH. 
131 
which present themselves to my recollection. One is that of a House Sparrow 
{Passer domesticus') placing its feather-bed inside an old Magpie’s nest in a lofty 
Elm tree at some distance from any house. When I saw it, the young birds 
were scarcely fledged. In 1834 I found the nest of a Common Wren {Anorthura 
troglodytes') in a very extraordinary situation. It was hanging by some small 
rootlets under a projecting ledge, about thirty feet from the bottom of a precipice, 
so that the slightest breeze v/ould put it in considerable motion, as the roots by which 
it was suspended were about a foot long. It was not, however, entirely finished 
, inside, the old birds finding it, I suppose, too insecure a cradle for their young. 
I regret that I did not preserve it. The same year I also found another Wren’s 
nest, which was not lined at all, and yet there were four or five eggs in it, which 
were warm when I first felt them, shewing that the old birds had made a virtue 
of necessity. This, I think, is a very unusual occurrence^'; at least I do not re¬ 
member another instance of it. Whether the eggs were hatched or not, I do not 
know, as I left the place immediately afterwards. 
Trinity College^ Dublin^ April 19, 1837- 
ON THE CATERPILLAR OF THE GOAT MOTH. 
The habits of many of the larger Lepidoptera^ from the comparative ease with 
which they may for the most part be observed, have pretty generally attracted 
the attention of those lovers of Nature who, nevertheless, cannot aspire to the 
title of entomologists; but who, with the example of the justly celebrated 
White, of Selborne, notice and treasure up the facts which come within their 
own individual observation, and by adding links to the chain of evidence 
y 
establish the statements of former more experienced and able writers on the 
subject. And thus facts which, taken alone, may not perhaps be important, 
when applied to their legitimate and true use, viz., that of corroborating former 
testimony, become not only so, but also contribute greatly to the pleasure of 
those who, in a field of observation so well explored as the present, cannot hope 
to add many new ones to the general stock. 
The following short account of a singular capability of the Goat Moth (Cossus 
ligniperda) was written principally with the view of corroborating a fact with 
* According to our experience the nest of the Wren is not invariably lined with feathers, and 
this, we conclude, is the lining alluded to by our correspondent. The lining of the structure is, of 
course, the finishing operation, and in some cases birds are compelled to deposit their eggs previous 
to the completion of the nest. A remarkable instance of this kind, in which a Thrush laid an esg 
upon a small quantity of moss on the branch of a Pear tree, has been recorded elsewhere._ Ed. 
No. 9, Vol. II. T 
