EXTRACTS.—NATURAL HISTORY. 
763 
The Possibility" of Naturalizing the Fire Fly. —It abounds not only 
in Canada, where the winters are so severe, but in the villages of the Vaudois, 
in Piedmont. These are a poor people much attached to the English; and at 
ten shillings per dozen, would no doubt, deliver in Paris, in boxes properly con¬ 
trived, any number of these creatures in every stage of their existence, and even 
in the egg, should that be desired; and if twenty dozen were turned out in dif¬ 
ferent parts of England, there cannot remain a doubt, but that, in a few years, 
they would be common through the country; and, in our summer evenings, be 
equisitely beautiful.— Mag. Nat. Ilist. 
Teal. —During the months of November, December, January, and February, 
the climate of Jamaica is rendered delightfully cool, by the blowing of the north¬ 
west wind, which passes over the continent of the North America, and, except an 
occasional light shower, the sky is always bright with constant sun-shine ; so that 
at an elevation of one thousand eight hundred feet above the level of the sea, 
the thermometer ranges in the morning from 56 to 60 degrees, and at noon from 
70 to 75 degrees. Through the above-named period, the island is visited by 
vast flocks of Teal, supposed to be the same species named by Gmelin, the Caro- 
linensis or American Teal. They make their way to ponds, and up the courses 
of rivers; and are shot in great numbers. This bird is most delicious eating. 
It is considered to come from the southern states of North America. It is 
thought some remain in Jamaica all the year, breeding in swamps and lagoons 
near the sea.— Mag. Nat. Hist. 
The Nightingale. —At Goldaiming in Surrey, on the 12th of December, 
(either 1823 or 1824,) Mr. E. Newman of Deptford, heard the Nightingale sing- 
ingclearly and distinctly, although not very loudly; he had a companion with 
him at the time, a close observer of birds, who has several times since, borne tes¬ 
timony to this remarkable fact. In the same neighbourhood, the nightingale 
has been frequently seen in the month of October, and once in November.— 
Mag. Nat. Hist. 
A Curious Fact concerning Bees. —As a small vessel was proceeding up 
the Channel from the Coast of Cornwall, and running near the land, some of the 
sailors observed a swarm of bees on the Island: they steered for it, landed, and 
took the bees on board; succeeded in hiving them immediately, and proceeded 
on their voyage. As they sailed along shore, the bees constantly flew from the 
vessel to the land, to collect honey, and returned again to their moving hive ; 
and this was continued all the way up the Channel. 
Silkworm. —A striking and interesting peculiarity of this insect is, that it 
does not wander about as all other caterpillars do, but is nearly stationary 
in the open box or tray where it is placed and fed ; for after consuming the im¬ 
mediate supply of mulberry leaves, it waits patiently for more being provided- 
This docile quality of the worm harmonises beautifully with its vast importance 
to mankind, in furnishing a material, which affords our most elegant and beau¬ 
tiful, if not most useful of garments. The same remark applies to the insect in 
the fly or moth state, the female being quite incapable of flight; and the male, 
although of a much lighter make, and more active, can fly but very imperfectly. 
The latter circumstance insures to us the eggs for the following season, and thus 
completes the adaptation of the insect in its different stages, to the useful pur¬ 
pose it is destined to fulfil for our advantage.— Mag. Nat. Hist. 
