naturalists’ calendar. 
141 
Yellow Colour of Plants. —The yellow of the petals t f flowers, is the only 
colour which is not discharged by the fumes of sulphureous acid. If a lighted 
match be held under a flower (viola tricolor) for example, the purple tint will in¬ 
stantly disappear, but the yellow will remain unchanged : the yellow of a wall¬ 
flower (Cheiranthus puticulosus) will continue the same, though the brown streak 
will be discharged. * 
Birds. —We noticed in our last calendar, that most of our winter visitors, as 
the Siskin, Fieldfare, &c. had disappeared. On the day our last number was 
published, we observed a large flock of the former; they w'ere flying a consider¬ 
able height, and appeared to be going direct south. The blackbirds (Merula 
vulgaris) and thrushes, (Turdus musicus) have sung very loud during greater 
part of the past month, and w r e should judge by their manners are beginning to 
breed, although we have not yet met with a nest. Towards the end, but few of 
our winter visitors will remain, and several of the summer birds will then have 
arrived. The ChifF Chaff, (Sylvia Rufa, Ren.) is usually amongst the first, and 
maybe heard uttering his peculiar cry, in small copices; the Wheat-ear (Saxi- 
cola CEnanthe) also generally makes its appearance this month; it is, in ge¬ 
neral, very plentiful in the high Peak of Derbyshire. 
Molluscous Animals. —In the plains about Penzance and other places in 
Cormvall, that very beautiful shell, Bulimus articulatus (6) abounds, it is about 
^ of an inch long, and f broad, colour whitish and glossy, with rows of plain 
brown chain-like spots, resembling figures of 8 linked together, the animal feeds 
on grass. The Achatina octona (7) is about half an inch long, of a white horn 
colour; it is ranked amongst British shells, on the authority of Dr. Pulteney, 
but is considered a doubtful species, w'e know' nothing of the habits of the ani¬ 
mal, nor can w’e tell w'here it may be found; but another little reddish horn 
coloured shell, not more than half an inch high, and a quarter broad, must have 
been observed by most of our readers, who in their morning rambles have passed 
through marshy ground, or have been engaged in their daily employ, near stag¬ 
nant pools, or other situations abounding with the Nymphea, &c. on the leaves 
of which it generally abounds, this is the Succinea oblonga (8.) The little ani¬ 
mal feeds upon these plants, as may be seen by the numerous small perforations 
in the leaves and stalks. In hedges and under stones, in most places, where the 
soil is sandy, may be found the Cyclostoma elegans, (9) it is about half an inch 
long, and four tenths wide, of a purplish yellow, mostly purple at the tip, marked 
wdth two rows of purplish brown spots; ’tis probable the animal feeds on the dif¬ 
ferent herbage growing in the situations where it is found. In w'oods, particu¬ 
larly in Worcestershire, the Bulimus tuberculatus (10) may often be met with, 
it is about half an inch long, and one quarter broad, and varying in colour from 
milk white to brownish white. 
Fishes. —A fish in the egg or spawn, gains its oxygen from the air dissolved 
in water, and those fishes that spawn in spring and summer in still w r ater, such 
as the pike, carp, perch, and bream, deposit their eggs upon subaquatic vegeta¬ 
bles ; the leaves of w'hich, in performing their health)' functions, supply oxygen 
to the water. The fish that spawn in winter, such as the salmon and trout, seek 
spots w'here there is a constant supply of fresh water, as near the sources of 
streams as possible, and in the most rapid currents, where all stagnation is pre- 
* Field Naturalists Magazine. 
