Cimi 200 
THE GARDENERS’ AND NATURALISTS’ CALENDAR FOR NOVEMBER. 
Vw 
amongst their branches a large number pass the night, 
so that they are intimately connected with the study of 
birds, and who can fail to admire them ? Look at yon 
sturdy Oak with its massive trunk and powerful arms, 
from which spring innumerable smaller branches ; what 
a world of life is contained in that giant tree, what 
myriads of the insect tribe have sported round it in the 
summer sun; ’t is here the Turtle wooed his mate; from 
amidst its thick foliage the Cuckoo piped his notes of 
joy; the Woodpecker has twined about its massive limbs 
prying for some sign of decay, but still found him hale 
and hearty; and yet this giant tree has stood the scorch¬ 
ing of the summer sun, and the raging of the winter blast, 
for upwards of a century. But mark how lowly its 
origin: from a little acorn similar to that which we now 
hold in our palm, arose that glorious tree ; and who can 
look upon such a sight unmoved, the mind instinctively 
wanders from the little acorn to the mighty tree, and 
from that mighty tree, in silent adoration, up to God. 
There is little change to be observed amongst our 
birds, the Fieldfares and Bedwings, if the weather 
still be open, may be seen scattered over the meadow 
lands; the Larks, Buntings, Linnets, and other small 
birds are in flocks, and may be found wherever food is 
plentiful; we hear, however, but little of them, their 
short call notes are the only sounds they utter, even 
our little pet, theBobin, is now almost mute, and comes 
close to the cottage door, with wings all drooping and 
feathers all puffed out as if in sore distress, a humble 
petitioner for a few crumbs. Let us hope he never 
petitions in vain. 
To those that dwell by the sea-side this is a season 
of interest, immense flocks of wild fowl come pouring 
in from their summer haunts in the north, spreading 
themselves along the shore and ascending all the smaller 
creeks, they afford great sport to the gunners. The 
Curlews ( Numenius arquata ), Wimbrels {Numenius 
phoeopus), Dunlings ( Tringa variabilis) , and others of 
the Tringa tribe, may be seen in large number, and add 
greatly to the interest of the scene, their low wailing- 
notes blending in melancholy cadence with the moaning 
of the ocean’s waves; ’tis a grand sight to witness the 
immense flocks of birds of various species, that are 
constantly passing and repassing, each with their pecu¬ 
liar mode of flight, all receiving sustenance from that 
world of waters ; how the eye longs to penetrate those 
unfathomable depths; what mighty secrets may not be 
still there hid from the prying eye of man. H. W. 
Entomology. —The out-door entomologist cannot 
now effect many acquisitions to his cabinet from the 
insects to be met with at large in this dreary month. 
Still, however, the gay flowers of the Chrysanthemum, 
and the still more attractive flowers of the Ivy, swarm 
with Hymenoptera and Diptera on sunny days, and 
when they disappear from our view, it is most probable, 
as old Gilbert White remarked, that they retire under 
the shelter of the broad leaves of the ivy, or conceal 
themselves between its fibres, and the tree round which 
it entwines. It is simprising, that notwithstanding the 
partiality which so many insects show to the flowers of 
this epiphtic plant, how few feed upon it in the larva 
state. We do not, indeed, recollect a single species of 
Caterpillar which devours its leaves, and only a single 
small Beetle ( Ochina liederce ), the larva of which bur¬ 
rows in its stem. A few Moths of small size, peculiar 
to this and the following months, may also now be 
found, such as the November Moth, Geometra ( Oporcibia ) 
dilutata; the November Dugger, Tinea (iJiurnea) No- 
vembris; the Drab day Moth, Tinea ( Cheimophila ) 
Phryganella, &c. 
One of these small Moths, the winter Moth, Geo¬ 
metra ( Hybernia ) brumaria, is, however, worthy of 
more particular attention than the rest. The males of 
this dull-coloured insect are to be observed flickering 
about in the evening, just at dusk, hovering about fruit- 
trees, hawthorn hedges, &c., their object being to search 
for the females, which are only furnished with very 
small rudiments of wings, so that they are unable to fly. 
This Moth proceeds from a light brown chrysalis, which 
lies under the surface of the ground from dime to 
October. When hatched the female mounts the stems 
of the trees, and then sits quietly until pairing has 
taken place, when she has the instinct to ascend to the 
fruit and leaf buds, where she deposits her eggs, from 
which are hatched in the following spring a number 
of small green Caterpillars, which are amongst the 
greatest enemies of the gardener, as they not only devour 
the leaves, but the young fruit and blossom-buds, which 
they fasten together with silken threads, and so also 
prevent their natural growth. Various plans have been 
proposed for the destruction of this insect, amongst 
which the most efficient appears to be to surround the 
stem with a kind of wooden box, which is to be smeared 
with tar at the period when the perfect insects make 
their appearance, by which means great numbers of 
the females will be destroyed. 
Dining the past month our gardens have been 
swarming with the Caterpillars of the Cabbage Butter¬ 
flies, to so great an extent as entirely to destroy whole 
beds of Brussel’s Sprouts, Savoys, early Cabbages, &c. 
These Caterpillars, when full grown, moimt the adjoin¬ 
ing walls, palings, &c. ; and our present object in men¬ 
tioning this insect is to direct attention to the little 
bundles of yellow silken masses which are to be observed 
in such situations, and which the gardener, notwith¬ 
standing his desire to have everything tidy and neat, 
must on no account remove or destroy. These little 
masses are, in fact, the cocoons of vast numbers of little 
Ichneumon-flies, which have lived in a parasitic state 
whilst larvae, within the bodies of the Cabbage Cater¬ 
pillars, bursting through the skins of the latter w T hen 
they, as well as the parasites, are fully grown—an ad¬ 
mirable instance of instinct, since if the parasitic larvae 
were full grown before the Cabbage Caterpillar, the 
latter would not have sought out its safe retreat, where 
the little parasites are now secure, until the period 
when they assume the winged state in the following 
spring. 
At this season of the year too much importance can¬ 
not be attached to frequently disturbing the earth be¬ 
neath trees, which have, dining the preceding season, 
been greatly infested with insect enemies, many of the 
Caterpillars of which descend into the earth to become 
pupae. Such is the case with the Caterpillars of the 
Grub of the Gooseberry Sawfly, the Baspberry Grub, 
the Pear-leaf Miner, Ac. The larvae of some species, 
indeed such as that of the Cockchaffer, descend to a 
greater depth in the earth, to pass the winter in a 
quiescent state. These, therefore, cannot be so readily 
reached, nor would it be of so much service to disturb 
them, as it is to dislodge those species which do not 
descend so deep into the ground; and which, moreover, 
are in the inactive pupa state, so as not to be able to 
crawl back under-ground when disturbed. 
It is also very serviceable at this time to remove all 
loose bark and pieces of decaying wood, as these harbour 
great quantities of insects during the winter months. 
This is the case with Grubs of the Codling Moth, and 
the red Grubs of the Plum Moth, the Caterpillars of 
which form their cocoons under the loose bark of fruit- 
trees. 
The various species of scale insects ought also to be 
sought for and destroyed at the present time, with great 
care, since they will now be found either filled with 
eggs, or their eggs will be found deposited in masses 
beneath their shrivelled bodies, waiting for the return¬ 
ing warmth of the spring to hatch them, when myriads 
of young will be produced and disseminated over the 
trees infested by them. J". 0. V r . 
