238 
naturalists’ calendar. 
Mode of Capturing Moths.-- Lay a sugar hogshead which has been just 
emptied, and to which of course a small quantity of sugar will adhere, in an 
open space, near a garden or field In the comse of a night or two, it will be 
visited by numbers of Noctufe, amongst which will not unfrequently be found 
some of the rarer species. The Noctuae continue to visit it, particularly on moist 
evenings, as long as it retains any saccharine matter.— Ent. Mag. 
Sap of the Rose-Tree. —From a plant of Rosa rubiflora, at Hammersmith, 
with a stem three feet and a half high, and two inches and a quarter diameter, 
when deprived of its branches, and the head sawed off, 29th of July, thirty-one 
ounces of sap flowed in about a week, which, together with loss by evaporation, 
probably exceeded three pints. Chemical analysis gave the following ingredi¬ 
ents .— 
Oxalate of Lime. 2,9 grains. 
Acetate of Lime. 1,097 do. 
Acetate of Potash. 0,7 do. 
Gum and extractive. 2,1 do. 
Sugar? soluble in alcohol,.. 0,1 do. 
Loss.0,353 do. 
7,25 
Notes of a Naturalist. 
Birds. —When the corn-crake (Ortygometra crex,) is alarmed, it has the in¬ 
stinct, in common, with some other animals, and especially insects to feign 
death. A gentleman had one brought him by his dog, it was dead to all ap¬ 
pearance. As it lay on the ground, he turned it over with his foot; he was con¬ 
vinced it was dead. Standing by, however, some time in silence, he suddenly 
saw it open one eye. He then took it up, its head fell, its legs hung down, it 
appeared again totally dead. He then put it into his pocket, and before very 
long, 1 e felt it all alive and struggling to escape; he took it out, it was lifeless 
as before. He then laid it on the ground, and returned to some distance; in 
about five minutes it warily raised its head, looked round, and decamped at full 
speed.-'-Field Nat. Mag. 
Singular Laying of the Barn Owl.—A nest of this bird last summer, in 
the neighbourhood of Tooting, contained two eggs, and when these were hatched, 
two more were laid, which latter were probably hatched by the warmth of the 
young birds; a third laying took place after the latter were hatched, and the nest 
at last contained six young owls of three different ages, which were all reared.— 
Field Nat. Mag. 
Arrival of our Summer Birds. Notwithstanding the excessive wetness 
and coldness of April, Swallows made their appearance in the high peak of Der¬ 
byshire, in the first week, and the Redstart about the 10th; these are all we have 
yet seen here: the voice of the black cap has never struck our ears yet; but if 
the weather is fine, we expect to commence May with most of our summer visi¬ 
tors, excepting the Nightingale, which never comes so far north as we live. 
