CORRESPONDENCE. 
87 
birds a few days old. Is this not exceedingly late for a wood- 
pigeon to be nesting ? I have never heard of one nesting so late 
before.— D. G. Bristowe. 
A CRANE IN SUFFOLK. 
The Eastern Daily Press of about a week ago, states, that a 
very fine male Crane (Grus cinerea ) has recently been shot on 
the low-lying marshland of Benacre, Suffolk. It was sent for 
preservation to Mr. Bunn of Lowestoft.—W. H. M. Andrews, 
Colney, Norwich, A ov . 14 th . 
EXOTIC MOTHS IN NOTTINGHAMSHIRE. 
A naturalist friend of mine, has lately sent me coloured draw¬ 
ings of two very large species of moths, which during the hot 
weather have been seen in considerable numbers, flying about in 
various places in Nottinghamshire, one of which I at once recog¬ 
nized as the Lunar moth (.Actias Luna)* an insect with swallow¬ 
tail wings of a beautiful pale green, the other being the beau¬ 
tiful Telea Polyphemus , the American silk moth, an insect which 
has been reared on an extensive scale in America. The Cater¬ 
pillar, which feeds upon willow foliage, produces a kind of white 
silk of a valuable kind. No doubt the pupae of these insects 
found their way to this country among the oak timber which 
they were laid up amongst, the warm temperature which has this 
year characterized our country, having been favourable for in¬ 
ducing the insects to emerge from the pupae.— James E. Whiting, 
Hampstead, n.w. 
A CURIOSITY. 
I had the pleasure last month of examining a common 
domestic duck, reared this summer, which has no webbed feet or 
membrane of any sort joining the toes. The toes are nicely 
serrated, however, and have a very slight margin of fleshy skin 
along each side, this apparently enabling it to swim to some 
extent, but nothing compared to the rest. The flight feathers of 
the wings, also, are growing perpendicularly from the sides of the 
bird. Have any of your readers known of a similar occurrence, 
and can they give any information as to the cause. 
Arbroath . Camarade de Nature. 
THE AQUARIUM. 
Will some reader kindly inform me, how I am to keep the 
glass of my aquarium from getting covered with a green coating, 
although the water remains perfectly clear ? I do not change it 
more than once in about five weeks. Can I get some snails 
that would eat away the slime, and thus keep the glass clean ? 
My fish are healthy !—E. A. Kemp, Yeovil. 
THE PREPARATION OF SKINS. 
I have the skin of a small stoat and also that of a mole ; they 
have both been treated with alum and are therefore quite stiff and 
* An Indian species.—E d. 
