136 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
November 24. 
The Golden-Pencilled and Spangled Hamburghs are 
also treated with the like disrespect. 
Malays are no favourites of ours, but from their long¬ 
standing, and peculiarly - marked specific character, 
should retain their place on every prize-list which 
professes to provide for the competition of fowls 
generally. A “Pencilled” Bantam, side by side with 
tho “ Laced” birds, was reserved, we imagine, for Essex 
sagacity to place before the poultry public. Had it 
been “ laced or spangled,” we should have thought it an 
error of judgment, and indicative of bad taste, to bring 
the two varieties into competition; but the “ Pencilled- 
Bantam is a mystery to us as a show-bird, although 
we have certainly seen stunted illegitimate descendants 
of the Golden-Pencilled Hamburghs that might possibly 
have passed under this name, but which, in the moments 
of their utmost ambition, could never hope to mount 
higher than the village dunghill. 
Turkeys are tempted with liberal offers, always sup¬ 
posing that the money should come in for their pay¬ 
ment; and, for the first time, are here divided by colour, 
“Black,” “White,” and any “other colour” having 
separate positions. In Turkey-keeping districts this 
would be a generally desirable system. 
The Hitchin and Home Counties Society announce 
their Meeting for the 18th and two following days of 
November. With some few exceptions, the prize-list is 
judiciously arranged, and the premiums liberal. One 
of these points appears in the very outset; where Shang- 
haes being divided into only two classes, one for 
“ white," the other for “ coloured” it necessarily follows 
that “Buff,” “Cinnamon,” “Partridge,” and “Black,” 
must be all jumbled together; an arrangement that 
will meet with few advocates. Turkeys have had 
separate classes assigned to the young and the old 
birds, but we regret to observe that the same favour has 
not been extended to the Geese. 
Premiums to the amount of T100, with silver cups in 
addition, have been for many months proclaimed as the 
libers,1 inducements held out to Poultry-keepers by the 
Cambridgeshire Society, whose Meeting was arranged, 
and published in our columns, for the 8th inst. A 
postponement took place in consequence of the public 
sale of Mr. Fairlie’s poultry; and now, after the pen- 
money, in many instances, has been paid, as we 
are given to understand, a printed circular has been 
issued to the effect that sufficient entries for a Show 
had not been obtained, and that it was, consequently, 
again indefinitely postponed. We allude to this fact in 
the hope that no occurrence of so objectionable, and, so 
far as intending exhibitors are concerned, so unfair a 
determination may be ventured on, and also as con¬ 
clusive evidence of the necessity for our remark on the 
proviso of the Colchester Society. 
On one point, our observations apply alike to the 
proposed arrangements on which all these three Exhi¬ 
bitions were to be carried out, and this is the unnecessary 
prolongation of the period during which the fowls are to 
be kept in close confinement. Our objections to this 
unwise addition to the many risks and hazards of the 
Exhibition-room have again and again appeared in 
these columns; our present task, therefore, need not 
extend beyond the mere statement of the number of 
days of confinement in each separate case. 
At Colchester, the birds must be at the place of 
Exhibition before noon on the 22nd of November, and 
as the Exhibition remains open till the ending of the 
26th, which is a Saturday, many of the birds, we fear, 
cannot reach home till the Monday following. At j 
Hitchin, they must arrive on the 16th inst., and remain j 
till the 21st. At Newmarket, they “were” to come on 
the 7th inst., and remain until after the evening of the 
10th. 
Further comments are unnecessary. Poultry may, i 
indeed, be cheaper another season ; but even then, such 
risks will be dreaded by owners suffering from past 
experience, and the Managers of Societies for encou¬ 
raging Poultry, will, probably, by that time, yield their 
present claim to the infliction of such periods of impri¬ 
sonment on their proteges. 
The monthly meeting of the Entomological Society, for 
November, was held on the 7th instant, the chair 
being occupied, in the absence of the President, by Mr. 
Westwood. A case of Butterflies was presented by T. 
Jones Stevens, Esq., of Bogota, containing many very 
splendid and rare species, among which may especially 
be mentioned, Morplio Ganymede, of which a single 
specimen only, in bad condition, was hitherto known, 
and that is in the collection of Dr. Boisduval, of Paris. 
This lovely Butterfly is of large size, with semi-trans¬ 
parent wings, which reflect, in certain lights, the 
most dazzling coerulean blue gloss. 
A curious hermaphrodite specimen of the British 
Hawk-moth ( Smerintlius populi), was also presented, 
one side of the body, and the corresponding wings 
being male, and tbe opposite half female. 
Mr. J. Curtis exhibited some very fine Beetles from 
Mozambique, which he had received from Signor 
Bertoline. Amongst them were the rare Manticora 
latipennis, and Goliathus Derbianus. 
Messrs. Edwin Shepherd and S. Stevens exhibited 
specimens of a new British Moth, Noctua sobrina, of 
Herrick Schaffer, taken in Perthshire, by Messrs. 
Weaver and Cooper. Mr. S. Stevens also exhibited a 
curious specimen of the handsome Beetle, Trichius 
fasciatns, with the dark markings greatly suffused. 
Some curious varieties of the common Butterflies, 
Argynnispapliia, and Hipparchia janira, together with 
numerous rare Moths from the Now Forest, were also ' 
exhibited by Mr. Boyd, who captured them in July and 
August last. Mr. Shield, of Dublin, exhibited a new 
Moth, of small size, Neptticula acetosce, reared from 
caterpillars feeding on the leaves of the common Sorrel; 
also specimens of a new Depressaria (D. subpro- 
pinquella). 
A number of beautiful Butterflies, from Nicaragua, 
were exhibited by Mr. S. Stevens, forming part of a col- 
