familar species we can make u very close 
guess. The eggs sent resemble those of our 
common .Ermine-Moth (>Spf losOTtWl T' irgin icu), 
and probably are of some nearly related spe¬ 
cies. You have a good opportunit y of adding 
something to our entomology, by watching 
the eggs when they hatch, observing the 
changes and progress of the larva?, rioting 
how many times t hey change their skins, the 
plant or plants upon which they feed, and 
finally their chrysalids. Then, if you will 
gather some of these, and send them to us, 
we will endeavor to produce the moths and 
give you the name, if the species has one ; if 
not, wo will have a name given it. We shall 
try to preserve and hatch the eggs sent us, 
but not knowing what food to give the cater¬ 
pillars, we shall probably fail to rear them. 
We hope every reader of the Rural New- 
Yorker will try, the coming Summer, to ob¬ 
serve what is going on about him or her iu 
the insect world, and send us any facts or 
greater part might be saved if the masses 
knew anything of the life about them, as 
seen in the insect world. 
Agricultural and horticultural societies me 
now, or soon will be, making up their lists of 
premiums for the coming season of Fairs, 
and we. hope their officers who have this de¬ 
partment in charge will see that liberal pre- 
miurns are offered for collections of insects. 
Let this thing once be fairly begun and we 
of tearing the most tender chick. I 
attemps to flap, you can have him a 
the day he came out of the egg. 
Tribune. 
POULTRY BREVITIES, 
Wm. M. Lewis, author of the “ People’s 
Practical Poultry Book,” Bends us the follow¬ 
ing as his experience with thishreed. He says : 
We were repeatedly asked in 1870 and lb?l 
our opinion of White Leghorn Fowls, as to 
their qualities for laying, hardiness, &c. Not 
at that time having had any experience with 
them, we could give no opinion, except from 
hearsay. 
In the Bummer of'.1871 we procured one 
dozen eggs from J. Y. Hick s ell, and set 
them, from which we reared six fowls—five 
cockerels aud one pullet. We procured from 
the same gentleman two nice pullets. We 
then took the best young cockerel and three 
pullets aud put them in a pen with a runway 
attached, six by fourteen feet. We think 
the chickens were hatched the latter part 
of July, 1871. March 10th, 1872, we got our 
first, egg from those pullots ; on the Hitb, ol’ 
the same month wo received three eggs per 
day, and they cont inued to lay at that rate, 
with few exceptions, up to Sept. 2d, at which 
time they began to fall olT. Borne days we 
would get two, and on other days three eggs. 
On the 8th of October they ceased laying al¬ 
together. The molting season seemed to last 
them a very short time. They feathered up 
quickly aud showed no signs of weakness or 
sickness during the whole time. These three 
pullets have laid, by actual count: 
March i«th to 31st.« e *p 
April.“ » 
May."a 
July.F 7 . « 
August _."V. 
tteprember. „ 
October. 
Total. 590 “ 
0 
Iu about 215 days those three pullets have 
laid 590 eggs. During the time, they have 
SWALLOWING A BOA-CONSTRICTOR. 
Mb, Frank Buckland describes in Lund 
and Water the swallowing by a python of a 
boa-constrictor “ A few days since a rabbit, 
was, in due course of tiling*, put iiilo a cage 
occupied by two or three boa-constrictors 
and pythons at the Zoological Gardens. 
Shortly afterward, Holland, the Intelligent 
and obliging keeper of the snake house, was 
made aware, by the excitement of the visit¬ 
ors. that something unusual was going on. 
Running round the back of the cage, he saw 
in a minute what had happened—otic of the 
largest of the snakes had swallowed down, 
whole, one of his comrades. Holland was 
only just In time, as the smaller snake had 
almost disappeared down the throat of the 
larger snake, there being only three or four 
inches of his tail hanging out of one side of 
the mouth of this voracious snake-cannibal. 
Jumping immediately into the cage in a most 
plucky manner, Holland seized the cannibal 
tightly by the throat The brute at once 
opened his great wide mouth, and out. drop¬ 
ped the rabbit—dead, of court e. \\ hy the 
rabbit should come out first, i cannot under¬ 
stand ; but it did. Holland then, seeing the 
make number two writhing and kicking 
about inside snake number one, seized hold 
OASK. [See Ba«o 103.] 
will soon see splendid exhibitions of ento¬ 
mological specimens, and our ladies aud gen¬ 
tlemen will not be calling every little fly, 
beetle, grasshopper or spider a “bug. 
answers the description of C. H. M s. w nue 
Brahma exactly. —W. R. 8., Morristown, A. 
Canary and Goldfinch. — One of our eoi- 
respondents writes :—E. K., Ohio, is informed 
that a male goldfinch can be mated with a 
female canary {dark color preferred) in 
March, and raise superior songsters. 
When to fair Canaries.—J. H., Wv*eee- 
♦ • — You can oair vour canaries In 
FROM AND TO CORRESPONDENTS 
HOT AH AMBLYCHIIA. 
W. B. J. of Egypt Depot, N. O,, is informed 
that the beetles sent are not the much-desired 
Amblychila eylindri/ormis , but the very 
common Horned Passaluu, an insect found 
iu or under almost every old rotten log, from 
the Gulf of Mexico to New York. We have 
stated several times, but will repeat it again, 
that no Amblychila has ever been found East 
of the Mississippi River, and there is little use 
for any one expecting to find them, except 
near the base of the Rocky Mountains, 
We reprint from the Rural. New-\ ohklk 
Jan. 27, 1872, Puge CO, figures of the Vattnal «» 
eornutm , FaBR., its larva and pupa, iu order 
that our readers may be able to distinguish 
this very common beetle which inhabits old 
rotten or half-rotten wood ; a, larva or grub; 
b, pupa ; c, the beetle ; <1, the third or nidi- 
mentary legs, which are additional to those 
shown in a, showing that the larva has 
three pairs of legs, although only two are 
fully developed. Those having the volume 
of 1872 will find this beetle and its habits 
INSECTS AT FAIRS 
Ik there is any one branch of natural sci¬ 
ence of which the cultivators of the soil ai e 
more destitute of knowledge on than anoth¬ 
er, it is that, of Entomology. We doubt if 
one man in a hundred knows that t he white 
grub which works such sad devastation to 
meadows aud gardens, and the common 
large May Beetle which flies into our rooms 
during the early part of the Summer, is one 
and the same insect, only in different stages 
of existence ; and the same rule will hold * 
good ail t hrough the catalogue of our injuri a 
ous and beneficial insects. We have hud 
books written iu goodly number which give 
valuable and interesting information in re¬ 
gard to the habits of our common insects ; 
but they are necessarily expensive, and very 
lew persons will buy and lead them, even if 
they are able to, and have leisure for study. 
We must devise some •other method of at 
trading the attention to the subject of insect 
life. We do not know a better plan than to 
offer prizes for insects to be shown at every 
town, county and State Fair. If young per 
sons could once see even a small collodion of 
insects coiroctly named, it would attract 
their attention, and wo should soon have 
hundreds and thousands of observers in this 
great and almost unexplored hold of science. 
A few men, here and there, arc doing an im 
mouse amount of work In this field, but their 
labors are not appreciated owing to the iguo 
ranee of the masses. Three States of the 
forty do pretend to pay an Entomologist a 
BIRDS AND WHITE GRUBS 
We find the following signed “ H. T.” in 
the Oneida Circular There is a certain spot 
on oui* lawn which is infested with this pest, 
to its great injury. The grubs have complete¬ 
ly severed the grass roots, so that the turf 
loses its color and may be rolled up like u 
►sheep skin, disclosing quarts of the larvte. 
The robins have found out the peculiarities of 
this spot, and l have often amused myself by 
watching their operations and observing the 
manner in which they feed, morning and 
evening, on the shiny fat worms. Frequently 
two or three dozen birds ut a time may be 
seen sUlkmg over the spot, occasionally turn¬ 
ing their heads to oue side as if listening in¬ 
tently, then suddenly plunging their beaks 
into the turf and tearing away like mad until 
they drag forth the grubs, which they then 
eagerly devour. The robin does not, howcv 
cr appear to bo well adapted to this kind ot 
work. The turf being rather tough, he docs 
not always succeed, pull as stoutly ms lie may. 
If he fails, lie deliberately turns aside and 
tries another spot. The crow, with his strong, 
sharp pointed dibble, is much better fitted to 
be successful in this business of grub catching. 
When we see him sauntering about in the 
pastures or meadows in his leisurely way, we 
must be sur< not to disturb him. for he L-; dO 
ing the farmer good service. He is such a 
gluttonous fruit eater tlrnt, were it not tor 
this propensity to catch insects, we should 
regard his presence us an unmitigated misfor¬ 
tune, despite the sentimental fondness for 
“robin redbreast” inculcated in our childhood. 
HOW TO PLUCK POULTRY 
I have known persons on market day to 
go out and kill twelve or fifteen fowls, and 
bring them into a room where there would 
be half a dozen women and boys pulling a 
few feathers ut a time, between thumb and 
forefinger to prevent tearing them. Now, 
for the benefit of such, I give our plan Hang 
the fowl by the feet by a small cord ; then 
with a small knife give one cut across the 
upper jaw, opposite the corners of the mouth; 
after the blood has stopped ruiming a stream, 
place the point of the knife in the groove in 
the upper part of the mouth, run the blade 
up into the buck part of the head, which will 
cause a quivering arid twisting of the mus¬ 
cles. Now is your time, for every feather 
yields as if by magic, and there is no danger 
a few days since, containing a number or 
these beetles. He will probably be able to 
recognize it iu future, 
INSECT EGOS FROM HEW MEXICO. 
Inclosed I send vou the larva? of some in¬ 
sects. There are thousands of them in this 
neighborhood. Are they likely to do any 
damage to crops in the Spring ■ W hat struck 
me a.-, remarkable is that all f have seen were 
upon u species of grass that no ammul will 
cat during Winter, Other kinds of grass in 
fin* Immediate vicinitv had none, wlnle on 
