Ree ee ha ne Os Mee oe ee Pie hee nee ey ey fa hey ety ye ¢ Rooe! 7, onl aE ss ae ote t= aa Sy , versus insects 33 Blackbirds, destructiveness of 316 Botany of Malham, Part V 263 British Birds, Notes on 73, 236, 329 British Mosses, Notes on 72, 86 Butcher Bird at Wick 198 Cat, Anecdote of a 38 Cats, Happy Family of 316 Cattle Plague, a French cure for Chafiinch, Variety of 182 Cherocampa celerio, at Perth 116, 198 at Southsea 210 on Flowers of Geranium 210 53 », at Waltham Abbey 209 Conchological visit to Cooper’s Hill 75 Cotswolds, a week on the 91 Contribution, important, to Leeds Philoso- phical and Literary Society 87 Correspondence 87, 330 Cryptogamia of the Grand Mulets 3? 33 240 39 +> 29 23 206 Cuckoo, Appearance of 19 Cuscuta trifolii, in Perthshire 182 Death’s Head Hawkmoth 1383 Dinornis, Notes on the Extinction of 241 Dodo, The 365 Dog, Affection in 316 Domestication of Bees and Hawks in England 199 Eared Seal at Regent’s Park Early Hare 316 Earwigs 318 Enemies of Larval Frog and Toad 41 303 Entomological News 54 be Notes in 1865 164 Entomology of Norfolk 126, 174, 217, 255, 362 Escholizia Californiea 317 Eupithecia begrandarva 133 ae pulcheilata, bred 6 Exchange 6, 21, 72, 88, 135, 157, 188, 200, 211, 224, 240, 255, 283, 303, 348 Ferns and their Allies at the English Lakes 228 Flight of Migrants 156 Flora of High Wycombe 319, 348 », of Wakefield, Materials for 6, 32, 56, 80, 94, 128, 147, 165, 184, 212, 932, 250, 269, 282, 294 Food of Birds 168 Fringilla spinus 365 Gallinula crew 86 Game killed on the Hornby Estate, 1856— 1864 361 Gammon and Spinach 210 Garden Snail, Notesonthe 162 Geology of High Wycombe 266, Geological discoveries at Hoyle’s Mouth Cavern 157 Glaucium pheniceum, Spontaneous appear- ance of 56 Golden Eagle, Capture of 364 GENERAL INDEX. Gonopiera Libatrix, at Huddersfield 331 Grimmia commutata 198 » eugyria 344 », New speciesofin Perthshire 344 High Wycombe, Local Flowers of 310 Hippopotamus birth of 149, 181 Human remains from Franconia 54 Hyprum aduncum, and its allies 49 >» purum, &e. 366 Indian Summer 198 Inula Salicina 209 Invasion of Frozen out Deer 364 Lacerta agilis 86 Lanius excubitor 365 Letter addressed to M. F. Crépin Lions, Birth of 364 Living animal extracted from the Human Eye 317 Lobsters, scarcity of 317 London Botany, past and present 110 Loxia curvirostra 208 Malthodes, Capture of a New British 117 Massacre of Small Birds in France 199 Meles Taxus, in Hackfall, 55 Mildness of season at Market Harborough 272 Mouse, Variety of 316 Mushrooms, Early 21 Mustelide of Northumberland :— 289 No. i. The Badger 21 », li. Pine Martin 97 Pwuiven meolecat . 187 My Marine aquarium 61 Natural Engineering 275 Naturalist’s Calendar in 1865, Notes of 273 Night Heron in Cheshire 101 Norfolk Diurni &c., not mentioned by Mr. Gunn 169 Norfolk Plover near Huddersfield 86 » Ramble 191 Notes in Autumn, 1865 239 Notes and Queries 240, 255, 272, 318, 347 Oak-leaved Woodbine 2938, 315 OBITUARY :— Cumming, Hugh 134 Hooker, Sir W.J 125 Waterton, Chas. 53 Woodward, 8S. P 155 Ornithological News 53 Ornithology of Norfolk 26, 63, 106, 295 Partridges, a large brood of 101 Pearl, large, in Unio Margaritiferus Petasites officinalis, On 35 Pieris Napi, small specimens of 156 Pied pheasant at Moundsmere 209 Plants of Buckinghamshire 14 », Clifton, Bristol 281 ,, Craven 182 », at or near Lofthouse 195 ,, London, Wimbledon Common 149 », Magnesian Limestone, N. of Pon- tefract 194 », foundin Merionethshire,in1864 70 Potamogeton natans, curious locality for 40 a nitens, in Perthshire 116 Proposed Union of Field Clubs 211 Puflin Island, Two hourson 76 Quail, The 208 Rare Eggs 366 Reason and Instinct 21 Rough-legged Buzzard 245 Royal College of Surgeons 198 REPORTS OF SOCIETIES :-— Amateur Botanists 18, 272, 303 British Association 151 Dudley and Midland Geological 52 Edinbrough Botanical 67, 83, 131 Geological Society of Glasgow 238 Geologists’ Association 223 Huddersfield Naturalists’ 82 Manchester Scientific Students’ Norwich Naturalists’ 220, 347 Oswestry and Welshpool 221 Queckett Microscopical Club 258, 303 Richmond and North Riding Naturalists’ Field Club 38, 69, 101, 115, 1383, 150, 155, 197, 286, 253, 288, 345, 347 Todmorden Botanical 345 Wakefield Naturalists’ 364 Warrington Field Naturalists’ 18, 37 Wycombe Natural History 18, 37, 52, 85, 150, 181, 237 Zoological Society of London 81 133 155 REVIEWS :— Deux Ascensions Scientifiques au Mont Blanc 67 GENERAL Easy Guide to British Hepaticee 115 Le Microscope,’&c. 66 On Egg of Apyornis maximus 18 Oswestry and Welshpool Naturalists’ Field Club, &c 301 Report of Liverpool Naturalists’ Field Club 299 Sale of Rare Eggs 117 Sea Gull,"Singular death ofa 117 Shark, Gigantic 117 Short Sunfish in Shetland Seas 223 Sitones Waterhousti, Capture of 135 Snakes 39 Sparrow, Variety of 86 Species, Considerations on 1, 10 Spontaneous Exotics 45 Spotted Woodpecker, supposed variety of 365. Starling, Variety of 347 Sucking Hedgehogs 239 Summer Migrants, Arrival of 19, 39, 181 INDEX. Summer Rambles on Orme’s Head 20, 39 Surrey Trip 118 Swallows 19 sip Scarcity of 19, 56 Sylvia rubecula 288 Thlaspi alpestre 108 Thiaspi, On some species of 31, 60 Toad, Tongue of a 156 Trout, Curious 6 Turtle in Cornwall 303 Vanessa Antiopa, near Tenterden 210 » Cardut 366 » urtice 366 Vegetation of Spitzbergen, compared with that of the Alps and Pyrenees 102, 136, 176, 200, 278 Vegetable Monstrosities (with plate) 213 225 Vespa Crabro and V. Norvegica 272 Vespide, Notes on 254 Wild Animals in India 240 INDEX SPECIERUM. [N.B.—This Index includes only those species of which special mention is made in volume. All species casually mentioned, local lists, and exchanges are excluded. | LOOLOGICAL. Accentor modularis 327 Buteo augur 245 Acherontia atropos 116, 133, 182, 362 b. lagopus 304 Aipyornis maximus 18 Calidris arenaria 144 Agrias Hewitsonii 56 Carbo cormoranus 126 Alauda arvensis 55, 124 Alca acuta 146 Anas torda 142 . Boschas 125 -clangula 145 . crecca 125 . ferina 145 fuligula 145 fusca 2538 . glacialis 145 . marila 145 . mollissima 125 . nigra 145 A. Penelope 145 A. strepera 28 Anser albifrons 145 A. bernicle 145 A. Egyptiacus 360 A. ferus 145 Anthus obscurus 124 A, pratensis 142 A. Richardi 358 Aquila nevia 357 A. cinerea 144, 360 A. russata 310 Ardea stellaris 28 Argynnis Lathonia 210, 217 Pbpb b> bb b> bb C. cristatus 126 Certhia familiaris 325 Ceryle rudis 306 Charadrias hiaticula 125 C. minor 359 C. pluvialis 125 Cheerocampa.celerio 116, 198, 209, 210 Cinnyris osea 308 Columba livia 125 Colymbus glacialis 145 C. septentrionalis 125 - Corvus corax 124 C. cornix 125, 359 Coturnix vulgaris 208 Curgorius isabellinus 359 Cygnus minor 146 C. musicus 146 Cynthia cardui 327 Cysticercus cellulosa 317 ‘Deilephila lineata 182 Elamus melanopterus 305 EK. melanocephala 308 Emberzia miliaria 124 K. nivalis 144, 358. HK. scheeniclus 326 Eriogaster lanestris 128 Kupetheria begrandaria 133 Kupethecia pulchellata 6 Falco Aisalon 124, 305 F. albicilla 124 F. buteo 26 F. Chrysaétos 53, 158 F, cyanosus 124 F. islandicus 143 F. nisus 124 F. peregrinus 124 F. tinnunculus 124 Fringilla borealis 144 ¥. domestica 124 F. montium 124 Frugilus Celebs 144, 182 F. graculus 359 F. linaria 144 F. spinus 365 Gallinula crex 86, 142 Grus cinerea 160 Heematopus ostralegus 142 Helix aspersa 162 Hemipodius tachydromus 83 Herodias garzetta 309 Hirando riparia 19 H. rustica 19 H. savigne 308 Hoplopterus spinosus 309 Lacerta agilis 86 Lanius argentatus 126 L. canna 126 L. collurio 301, 358 L. eburneus 146 L. excubitor 365 L. fuscus 148 L. glaucus 146 L. leucopterus 146 L. marinus 126 Larus ridibundus 126 L. Rossii 162 L. Sabinii 360 L. tridactylus 143 Liparis auriflua 127 Lestris catarractes 143 L. pomarina 146 L Richardsonii Limosa melanura 3860 Loxia curvirostra 144, 208, 358 Lusciola luscinia 358 Machetes pugnax 360 INDEX SPECIERUM. Malthoides mysticus 117 Martes abietum 97 Meles Taxus 21, 55 Mergus albellus 28 M. serrator 125 Merops apiaster 38 M. viridis 306 Mormon fratercula 142 Motacilla Yarrellii 236 Mus musculus 316 Muscicapa atricapilla 358 Nonagria elymi 363 Numenius arquata 125 N. pheopus 142 Nycticorax ardeola 101 Octocorys penicillata 307 Oidemia fusca 272 Oriolus galbula 359 Orthagoriscus mola 223 Parus ater 326 Pastor roseus 359 Perdix cinerea 327 Picus major 160, 365 Piscicola piscium 19 Pluvianus auritus 360 P. melanocephalus P. minor 145, 358 Podiceps rubricollis 29 P. cornutus 145 Puffinus anglorum 143 Putorius feetidus 187 Pyrrhula vulgaris 326 Rallus aquaticus 145 Recurvirostra avocetta 359 Regulus cristatus 144 Ruticella tithys 307 Saxicola leucomela 307 S. rubetra 358 Scolopax gallinago 125 S. gallinula 144 Sitones anglica 361 S. arctica 143 S. Dougallii 360 S. Waterhousei 135 Sterna nigra 65 Sturnus vulgaris 124 Strepsilas interpres 144 Strix enanthe 142 S. brachyotus 146 . nyctea 143 Sylvia rubecula 26, 159, 288 suecica 53 tithys 358 ‘Thalassidroma pelagica 143 U2 U2 2 77 Totanus calidris 144 ‘IT. Canutus 145 ‘T. glareola 359 ‘I. hypoleucos 310 'T. maratia 145 'T. minuta 145 IT. subarquata 146 ‘Tringa variabilis 125 Troglodytes europeus 125 Turdus ihacus 146 'T. merula 144 Agaricus campestris 21 'Bartramia fontana 86 'Calluna vulgaris 132 Campanula rotundifolia 226 ‘Climacium dendroides 366 Convallaria majalis 314 ‘Corydalis cava and solida 85 |Crepis biennis 227 Cuscuta trifolii 182 | Daphne Mezereum 16, 312 Dentaria bulbifera 311 | Dianthus barbata 215 Escholtzia californica 317 |Fissidens bryoides 72 /Galanthus nivalis 315 om angulatum 46 A macrorhizum 45 33 nodosum 46 ue striatum 46 |Geum rivale 227 288 Gladiolus illiyricus 68 )Glaucium pheeniceum 56 Grimmia commutata 198 ? » eugyria 329, 344 | », subsquarrossa 344 ‘Hypnum aduncum 49 | » exannulatum O51 » purum 361 ‘Tinnunculus alaudarius 305 — INDEX SPHCIERUM, { T. pilaris 146 T. torquatus 146 Turtur cambaiensis 309 Unio margaritiferus 133 Upupa epops 305 Uria alle 146 U. lacrymans 142 U. grylle 126 U. troile 142 Vanellus cristatus 142 Vanessa antiopa 210 V. cardui 366 V. urtica 366 Vespa Brittanica 254 V. crabro 254 Yunx torquilla 357 Zygena malleus 117 BOTANICAL. », Sscorpioides 266 », Sendlineri 52 5 hillstonanl Girl Impatiens glanduligera 49 a parviflora 48 Inula salicina 209 Linaria vulgaris 216 Lonicera caprifolium 293, 31 Merulius lachrymans 347 Neotinea intacta 69 Ornithogalum sulfureum 217 Oxalis crenata 225 Papaver maculatum 216 Petasites officinalis 35 », pratensis 35 sol Lipanian oo Potamogeton natans 40 th nitens 116, 131 Ranunculus ficaria 15 Syringa valgaris 225 Thlaspi alpestre 31, 61, 102 », Montanum 138, 108 », occitanicum 31, 61, 108 », perfoliatum 32 », virens 61,108 Tulipa Gesneriana 215 Tragopogon pratense 228 Urococcus 132 § wt rae te iis NATUR ALES T. “TABoR Omnia VINCIT.” Original Articles, CONSIDERATIONS ON “SPECIES” APROPOS OF A NEW WORK BY M. JORDAN. BY FRANGOIS CREPIN, Professor of Botany in the Horticultural School at Ghent. It remains now to decide,—and this is the chief point in this discus- sion,—whether the modern school, by means of its criterion, has indicated the true unity or species. If such be the case, we,—Linneans,—must acknowledge that what we have taken for species are in reality generic groups ; and that the true species are infinitely more numerous than we had thought ; that their affinities are in general very close; and that they are only distinguished from one another by very subtle differences. Granting for the moment that this is the ease, let us examine the perturbations which would result from the new point of view from which the species must be judged. All our descriptive works must be re-written,—this is easily under- stood,—and the great majority of our Phytographers and our amateurs would have to begin their studies anew. Alas, what labour, what study! Bya | single stroke, we find ourselves face to face with a chaos almost equal to that which our F/oras presented when Linneus at first set himself to work. The Flora of Europe includes from 8900 to 9000 types, called linnean, (we only speak of the vascular plants) ; now these 8000 or 9000 must be dismembered into 50,000 or 60,000 new species, if M. Jordan’s principles are applied to them. We say 50,000 to 60,000, but we should not be surprised to see them mount up to 100,000! Some 10,000 types more would make litle difference to good workers, if these legions of species could be distinguished by more or less appreciable characters ; but unfortunately, their delineation and limitation would be often a work of incredible difficulty. Ordinarily, they could only No. 25, May 1. | A % THE NATURALIST. be distinguished by differences so minute and so fugitive, that it would be requisite, before they could be recognised, to study and compare them in the living subject, and oftentimes to examine them when under cultivation. In a dried state it would be almost impossible to determine them. This is the opinion of M. Jordan himself.—‘ But the study of the Thlaspi from herba- ria 1s very difficult on account of the variations which the characters drawn from the silicule occasionally present, according to the season and the une- qual development of individuals, particularly in length, the separation of the lobes from the sinus, as well as the length of the style, which is more or less salient according to the state of the sinus.”’ Even when under culti- vation, the study of these new species is surronnded with difficulties, witness again the author of the ‘ Diagnoses”:—“ The leaves of the different species of Hroplila ought always to be examined on young plants, before the appear- ance of the flowers,—in autumn or the end of winter, when they have not suffered from frost. The leaves which remain on the fully developed plant, are generally very little characteristic, either in form or colour.”® In speaking of the new types, derived from Papaver Rhaecas, he also says :— -“'The characters ought always to be studied on individuals which have passed through winter, and which are in a sufficiently normal state, rather luxuriant than otherwise. In poor plants, the characters do not disappear, but they are less striking, and the characteristic facies of the plant almost entirely fails, which causes the specific form of the plant to be disguised, to those who are not previously familiar with such studies. The same remark may be applied to many other groups somewhat numerous in annual species, as Viola sect. Melanium, Erophila, &c., which should always be studied from the finest individuals,—those in which the development is very complete and normal.” !° Having studied these closely allied forms in the living state and under cultivation, there still remains the difficulty of identifying them. And what labour is required in this identification! We request all who have sufficient curiosity to search in nature for the species described by M. Jordan. How many have succeeded, after immense labour, in identifying any of these new forms? Consult any herbarium and you will find that nearly all the forms given with a synonym of M. Jordan have their specific name followed by ' the sign (2). We cannot be sure of their authenticity unless the master \ himself has namedsthem. (8) Loe. cit., p. 269. (9) Woe eits sp. 20Ke LO) Moe: seit, ps 00, PROF. CREPIN: CONSIDERATIONS ON “SPECIES.” 3 In the present state of science, when a great number of new species have yet to be named, how can we avoid being constantly in doubt. The plant, tolerably fresh and complete, which we hold in our hand, seems by the majority of its characters to correspond to such and such a description, but a neighbouring diagnosis does not fit it badly. Which of the two shall we refer it to? Is our plant an undescribed species? What means shall we resort to, to determine it? We can, it is true, compare our form with authentic specimens of all the allied forms already described, but we know that dried specimens are not always satisfactory. To be perfectly sure that our determination is correct, we must cultivate our plant alongside all the allied forms already known. ‘This method of identification would be impracticable for the greater proportion of Botanists, and this being the case, we may perceive what a terrible weeding-out would be required in our science after a few years. It is evident that M. Jordan and his disciples have hitherto only named but a very small number of the new species existing in Kurope. An unlimited number of forms still remain to be recognised and limited. Suppose the Germans, the Swedes, the English, and the Italians, all at work with the ideas of the French reformer, and see them engaged in the struggle with the Diagnoses already published. Their identifications being very often impossible; the multitude of new species which would immediately see hight, would have double and triple meanings. How acute a man would be required in after days to elucidate the synonymy! Indeed he would never find himself,—it would be utterly impossible after what we have stated above. We can see a most frightful chaos if M. Jordan and his school should eventually triumph. The insurmountable difficulties which would surround the determination of species would cause the study of plants to be abandoned by the multitude of amateurs. We should only meet with rare and obstinate workers, who would have the courage to approach some genera. The complete study of the flora of a small country would require several lives. In schools where botany is taught, both pupils and professors, finding themselves forced to keep to the study of the ancient types, would be obliged to rest content with the genera, which are formed by the dismembered types. Another inconvenience of the progress of the new school would be the abandonment for many years of the study of botanical geography. There is no necessity to give any reason for this: it will at once strike the mind of any one who reflects upon it. We see then to what we should be led, if the principles of M. Jordan 4. . THE NATURALIST. were accepted ; but these considerations do not stop him for a moment. Beheving that he is in the right, he goes straight ahead without troubling himself about the perturbations which must ensue. If we raise our voice against him, it is because we fear that the new school is following a false track, a track in which we are afraid of seeing a whole generation lost. Possibly there is no occasion for so much alarm— perhaps we ourselves are in error. Nevertheless, in spite of the assurances of our antagonists, we shall hold fast to the old ideas, properly interpreted. Our own observations of Nature, and experiments in cultivation, still lead us to believe that the true species are not those of the new school; that the species of nature is something sufficiently well marked out, provided with characters which are in general easily appreciable, that it varies within certain limits, that between these limits it produces varieties which accommodate them- selves to the medium in which they live, that some types are more pliable (flexible) than others, but that all are confined within certain limits over which they cannot pass. These are the ideas that have guided us in all our studies—we might almost call them our creed. A different idea, and another creed rule the researches of M. Jordan. Being a man of good faith and con- vinced of his principles, as we believe him, we must respect his method of observation. Spite ofan antagonism of no new date, we cannot refuse to admire his talent, which is incontestable. No one ever has possessed, like him, the indefatigable ardour, which he has shewn during five-and-twenty years, in analysing this multitude of forms, neglected before his time, and in following them day by day under cultivation. All those who know what extraordinary labour is required in this class of studies, will most certainly render due homage to the Botanist of Lyons. Still it is to be regretted that the prodigious labours which he is engaged in contemplating, do not rest on a more solid basis. In reading the preface to his ‘“ Diagnoses,’—a most remarkable pro- duction—we are almost led to embrace his doctrines, so close is his reasoning, so ably are his arguments drawn up. But the premises of this eloquent demonstration, are, we will not say radically false, but extremely doubtful. From the moment his basis is laid open to doubt, we cannot admit his deductions as certainly established. An edifice with such a foun- dation does not promise a long duration. We much fear that it will give way, but its ruins will furnish us with excellent materials for building ano- ther, materials which might otherwise have long been wanting. Indeed, amongst a multitude of very bad species—at least bad in our eyes—we may PROF. GREPIN : CONSIDERATIONS ON ‘‘ SPECIES.” 5 ' say there are many which are excellent according to our views, and which have been neglected in consequence of the indolence of the Linnean school. _ These riches, acquired by the indefatigable researches of the leader of the new school in France, do not, however, constitute the chief title to this glory : what raises him most is the influence which he has exercised, and still exercises on science. It is he who has roused the old school from its torpor. We may reckon _many able observers before him, but the mass of descriptive botanists have followed a routine, which required but very superficial labour. In their ' books, they have contented themselves with identifying, more or less cor- rectly, the old types, distinguishing them by a small number of sufficiently striking characters, and neglecting the numerous forms which are derived or | seem to be derived from these types. There were no experiments, no real criticism. He has rudely shook the routinists—has shewn them what analysis should be,—and lastly he has brought his experiments to bear. To all he says—you admit that persistence of characters is the best mark of species : very well; but I have made long continued experiments and on a large scale, and I find that what you took for specific characters are really characters of a higher order, and that all your pretended varieties are really good and legitimate species, marked by excellent characters which are invariably per- | | ‘ sistent. What could the old school answer to such categorical language ? | i They were completely taken aback: they had no positive experiments to : oppose against those of the reformer. ‘They did answer, it is true, but only | with simple speculative ideas, with hypotheses but not with facts, which are everything in the experimental sciences. A certain number of serious _ observers rallied round the ideas of the new master, and became his disciples, _but many others, detecting what was fallacious in his doctrines. did not join his ranks. Having confidence in the old method of observation, they betook } themselves courageously to their studies afresh, reconsidered their previous | observations, and followed the example set by M. Jordan; they studied the forms they had hitherto neglected and experimented on a number of them. | These first and more profound studies have not modified their ideas as to | what constitutes a species : on the contrary, they are led to enforce them, and | give them a more solid basis. The final result of their efforts will be to Jordan they would have still gone on a long time in the paths of routine, make us understand better what is a veritable species. Yet without M. 'and unintelligible labours. 6 THE NATURALIST. Obserbations, Eupithecia pulchellata, *‘ Bred.”—I am sure it will interest many readers of the ‘* Naturalist” to hear that I have this day bred #. pulchellata from larvee gathered last summer, which fed upon the stamens of the Fox-glove flowers ; thus proving, beyond cavil, that our friend Mr. Hodgkin- son’s suspicions that this long-sought larvee would be found attached to Digitalis pur- purea were correct. The larvee were plenti- ful in July.—S. Grecson.—April 12th, 1865. A Curious Trout.—At a meeting of the Richmond and North Riding Natural- ist’s’ Field Club, on Tuesday evening last, a somewhat interesting specimen of the trout family was exhibited by Lonsdale Bradley, Esq., F.G.S. This trout was taken on the 8th March from a spring on Hurst Moor, upwards of 1000 feet above the level of the sea, and was a well-fed fish, and in excellent condition, weighing 2 lbs., which is very remarkable considering the severity of the winter. On removing the skin it exhibited a beautiful orange pink colour, deeper than the salmon or bull trout (Salmo eriox) of this country, and resembled more the colour of the red mullet (Mullus barbatus), which is a singular circumstance, as the trouts in the rivers and brooks of this neighbourhood are invariably white, and only very seldom tinged with pink. It is supposed to be the red trout of Norway, brought over tc this country by some fish-eating bird which had been induced to stop at this spring for food or water on its flight across the island. —Communicated by J. Aspp1n, Richmond. Gxechunge. To Entomologists.—Mr. J. Brown, King’s Parade, Cambridge, would be glad of larvee of any species of Lepidoptera, (except the | very common.) In return Mr. Brown will be happy to send larvee or imagos of local species, or repay postage. Gagea lutea.—Having a number of specimens of Gagea lutea, I should be very glad to exchange with any botanist who wishes. Persons wishing to exchange would oblige by mentioning species they may have in duplicate.—J. M. Hick, Rev. B. C. Caffin’s, South Street, Durham. Original MATERIALS FOR Articles. A FLORA OF WAKEFIELD AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. By T. W. GissiIne. EXOGENA. Svus-Cuass I. THALAMIFLORZ. OrnpDER—RANUNCULACEZ. CLEMATIS. C. vitalba, L. Clematis or Traveller’s Joy. Allerton Bywater, Mr. Roberts. ANEMONE. A. Pulsatilla. L. Pasque Flower. and beautiful plant is fast disappearing from this the only locality 1 Tann. Linn. P. July—August. Ganforth, Apparently rare. Anemone. : P. April—May. Smeaton. This rare in which it has been seen in flower for the last four or five years. rt t 7 | 4 + Aq f ! GISSING : FLORA OF WAKEFIELD. 7 | A. nemorosa, L. Wood Anemone. P. March—April. Generally dis- tributed through the district. It is occasionally found with only three sepals. Ranunoutus. Linn. Crowfoot. ia aquatilis, L. Water Crowfoot. P. March—August. a. circinatus. Frequent in ditches and still waters. b. peltatus (2) Havercroft. ce. trichophyllus. Campsall. d. hederaceus. Common. | All these varieties of R. aquatilis seem to vary more or less every year, even in places where they have been growing many years. In the variety -hederaceus I have noticed a peculiarity never seen by me in any of the others. The flower stalk springing from a lower point and adhering to the stem up to the next joint, where it diverges, thus making the flower-stalk double its R. Flammula, li. Lesser Spearwort. P. June—September. Common. | Varying much in form. | BR. Ficaria, L. Lesser Celandine or Pilewort. P. February—May. Com- mon. ‘This early favourite loves the sunshine and closes its flowers as the day dies—opening again on the morrow—after a few days the life ceases and the petals remain expanded and bleached. RB. aur icomus, L. Wood Crowfoot—Goldilocks. P. April—June. Com- | mon. In this neighbourhood the flowers are rarely perfect—two or three petals in each generally being defective. A form is sometimes found with the stem leaves quite hairy on both sides and the root leaves : hairy on the upper surface. R. sceleratus, L. Celery-leaved Crowfoot. P. May—July. Frequent. By | ponds and ditches ; varying in height from three or four inches to two | feet. : R. acris, L. Upright Meadow Crowfoot. P. April—December. Common. | Sometimes with double flowers. Most of the species of Ranunculus are poisonous, but this plant is most dangerous, and serious accidents have happened to children from eating it. Like most of its genus the poison- ous principle seems to be destroyed by drying—therefore it is freely eaten by horses and cattle when mixed with hay, although they pass it | by when growing. RA. repens, L. Creeping Crowfoot. P. June—October. Common in corn- fields and waste places. 8 THE NATURALIST. R. bulbosus, L. Bulbous Crowfoot or Buttercup. P. April—August. Com- mon. Although the trivial name Buttercup is given specially to this | plant, it seems to be equally applied to all yellow-flowered species of Ranunculus. In Suffolk this plant and the &. acris are popularly called Paigles, and from enquiry it appears that that is the only county in which the plants are so called. There appears little doubt that these plants were the first to receive the name of Paigles ; which has since, by some extraordinary process, been transferred to the Cowslip. (For much useful information upon the common names of British plants I would refer readers to Dr. Priors ‘“ Popular names of British Plants.”) R. arvensis, L. Corn Crowfoot. A. May—July. Common in corn fields. In Suffolk the popular name is ‘“ Gye.” CautHa. Linn. Marsh Marigold. C. palustris, L. Common Marsh Marigold. P. March—June. Common in wet places. Henuesorus. Linn. Hellebore. Hi. viridis, L. Green Helleboree P. March—May. Askern and Conis- © borough. H. fetidus, L. Stinking Hellebore. P. February—May. Smeaton. ! OrpER—BERBERIDACE/:. BrrBeris. Linn. Barberry. B. vulgaris, L. Common Barberry. S. May—July. Criggling Stubbs and — other places in that neighbourhood. (Mr. Forrest.) From the places — where this plant is commonly found it is very doubtful whether it is a © native of Yorkshire. OrpER—NYMPHASACE/E. Nurnar. Sm. Yellow Water Lily. NV. lutea, Sm. Common Yellow Water Lily. P. June—Aueust. Darfield, & Orper—PAPAVERACEZ. Papaver. Linn. Poppy. ¥ P. Argemone, L. Long Prickly-headed Poppy. A. May—August. Chevet. — Cornfields. , P. Rheas, L. Common Red Poppy. A. May and throughout the summer. Ht Common. y The above two species (and probably others) are sometimes found with | each petal divided almost to the base, and in some cases with the edge of the | petal so divided as to appear fringed. 1 | GISSING : FLORA OF WAKEFIELD. 9 CueELiponium. Linn. Celandine. C. majus, L. Common or Greater Celandine. P. May—August. Pontefract, Stanley. Generally near dwellinghouses. Orper—FUMARIACEE. Fumaria. Linn. Fumitory. Ff. capreolata, L. Rampant Fumitory. A. May—September. In cornfields, gardens, and waste places. F, officinalis, L. Common Fumitory. A. April—September. Common in cornfields, &e. Mr. Bentham in his valuable Flora treats all the other forms of Fumaria ~ as varieties of this plant. Corypaus. D.C. Corydalis. C. claviculata, D.C. White Climbing Corydalis. P. June—August. New Miller Dam, Ossett. C. lutea, D.C. Yellow Corydalis. P. May—August. Nostel, (Mrs. Watson.) OrpER—CRUCIFER AL, | Cunmantuus. Linn. Wall Flower. C. Cheiri, L. Common Wall Flower. S. April—August. Old walls at Pontetract. BaRBaREa. Br. Winter Cress. B. vulgaris, Br. Bitter Winter Cress or Yellow Rocket. P. April—August. Common in wet places. Arapis. Linn. Rock Cress. A. Thaliana, L. Common Thale Cress. A. March—October. On dry banks and waste places. A. hirsuta, Br. Hairy Rock Cress. 3B. June—September. Frequent about Castleford and Pontefract. Carpamine. Linn. Bitter Cress. C. amara, L. Large Flowered Bitter Cress. P. April—June. Near Heath Bridge, over the Barnsley Canal. C. pratensis, L. Common Bitter Cress, P. April—June. Common. Sometimes found with double flowers. C. hirsuta, L. UHairy Bitter Cress. A. February—October. Common. The variety sylvatica, Link., is occasionally found. Nasturtium. Br. Water Cress. NV. officinale, Br. Common Water Cress. P. April—October. Common. WV. sylvestre, Br. Creeping Yellow Cress. P. May-——October. Banks of the Calder, Thornes, Sandal, &c. No. 26, May 15. B 10 THE NATURALIST. NV. terrestre, Br. Marsh Yellow Cress. A. May—October. Banks of the Calder, Thornes, Sandal, &c. CocHLEARIA. Linn. Horse Radish, Scurvy Grass. C. Armoracia, L. Horseradish. P. April—July. Frequent near towns and villages, and by the sides of streams, but always an outcast of cultivation. DraBa. Linn. Whitlow Grass. D. verna, L. Spring Whitlow Grass. A. February—July. Heath, Woolley. Hesperis. Linn. Dame’s Violet. | Hf. matronalis, Common Dame’s Violet. P. May—August. Woolley Edge. Probably taken there with manure. SisyMBRiuM. Linn. Hedge Mustard. S. officinale, L. Common Hedge Mustard. A. May—October. Common. AuuiaRia. Adans. Garlic Mustard. A. officinalis, D.C. Jack-by-the-Hedge, Sauce Alone. B. April—July. Common. Sometimes used in salads. CONSIDERATIONS ON “SPECTES” APROPOS OF A NEW WORK BY M. JORDAN. BY FRANGOIS CREPIN, Professor of Botany in the Horticultural School at Ghent. (Continued from page 5.) What we have called the new school is, in our opinion, destined to perish, and that by its very excesses. Already some, who had allowed themselves to be misled, have returned to more moderate views, and have begun to suspect the results of the cultivation of the creators of new species. However, this school in retiring from the scene, will not give up the battle. The Linnean school will divide itself, and we shall have again two schools ; the progressive school, which will call experiment to its aid, and study Nature attentively ; and that which will continue to make phytography an easy work. Already is the Linnean school drawing into its rear ranks a large number of cabinet-botanists, who, occupied principally in anatomical and physiological researches, consider the study of species as a secondary thing, as a distraction from studies apparently more important, and amuse themselves with arranging Nature after their own caprices. Having neither the time nor the courage to study deeply the species already created, impatient of the new types which PROF. CREPIN : CONSIDERATIONS ON ‘“‘ SPECIES.” 11 experiment and observation from time to time have succeeded in recognising and delineating, they say, we will reduce remorselessly, we will make fine and large specific types, which may be easily distinguished. Tio these savans, whether men of genius or not, may we not say—you have neither the leisure nor the requisite patience to occupy yourselves seriously with phyto- eraphy, and therefore since you cannot follow attentively the species, either in nature or in experimental gardens, leave them in peace, and consecrate all your time to your pet studies ; confine yourselves solely to the arrangement of classifications, to making, remaking and grouping genera. Let such then leave the work of the formation of floras to patient investigators, who make it their special study ; let them no more decide questions which they do not understand, and of which they are often ignorant of the first principles. This language may seem bold, but it is fully justified by the strange deeds of certain persons, whose names, nevertheless, blazon the annals of science. The progressive school,—the school of experiment must again fight against the retrogrades ; it must sustain the cause of truth against those cabinet-botanists, who, as M. Jordan justly says, establish nearly all their species from materials found in herbaria, and on very insufficient data. Whilst awaiting the triumph of the Linnean progressive school, let us leave the innovators to march on in front; let us leave them, with their lively faith, patiently to investigate the character of that multitude of forms which they would make into species: they will execute the task better than we should, for nothing stimulates an observer so much, nothing renders his eye so piercing, nothing sharpens analysis more, than the thought of discover- ing new types where others do not see them. The regenerate Linnean school will follow them, will sift their creations, and verify their essays. At present, the important work for this school is experiments on cultivation, and profound observations on transitory forms. Also, it is beginning to per- ceive, that it is by these means that it will keep on the right side of its adversaries. As for ourselves we are quite confident of its success, and we hope that in the course of a few years it will have amassed such a number of positive proofs as will force its antagonists to silence. We shall conclude these observations by stating a number of proposi- tions, by way of a résumé of the question under discussion. They merit the study of all those who are interested in the eternal problem of species. i—The Linnean school has not generally made use of a practical criterium for being assured of the legitimacy of its specific creations. i,—The great majority of species of the Linnean school only rest on theoretic ideas,—hy potheses. 2 THE NATURALIST. iiii—To constitute a species the Linnean school requires very decided char- acters ; but why these decided characters rather than less striking ones. iv.—The Linnean species have, for the pledge of their value, but a limited number of well conducted experiments on cultivation ; thus it follows that the greater part of these species can only be provisionally admitted to the title of true species. v.—The partisans of this school cannot therefore be logically dogmatic on the question of these species. vii—There is nothing to prove that a great many of these species are not assemblages of true species. vil.—Already many of the species called Linnean, which were at first admit- ted as true units, have been acknowledged, even by the partisans of the Linnean school, to be composed of several units. viil.—Certain partisans of the Linnean school, being under the false idea that the great part of the European floras are sufficiently well known, and that no European form remains to be discovered, have contented themselves with investigating known species, and have neglected the attentive study of that multitude of forms which they consider as simple varieties or variations. ix.——Following out this erroneous opinion, they have refused to believe in the specific distinction of a certain number of forms which had been neg- lected, and which nevertheless possess characters quite as decided as the best types adopted by them. x._-The repugnance which certain partisans of the Linnean school have shewn for the species created in these days, has its origin in their com- plete ignorance of facts. xiimMany of the reductions made by the Linnean school are the result of ignorance of facts, and ought to be considered as null and void. xii.—Those reductions cannot have any real value which are not based upon experiments in cultivation, or on the existence of transitory forms estab- lishing an énsensible gradation between the pretended distinct species. xii.—Tlhe new school makes all its species to repose on a single practical criterium—the persistence of characters continued by seed. xiv.—The criterium of the new school, good in itself, is practised incompletely, from which it follows that the species of this school can only be provisionally admitted as units. xy.—Any form whatever remaining stable with certain characters, for five, ten, fifteen, or twenty successive generations, cannot therefore be PROF. CREPIN: CONSIDERATIONS ON ‘ SPECIES.” 133 rigourously concluded to be indefinitely stable and cannot be admitted with certainty as a species. xvi.—tIn order to admit to the title of a veritable species, any form remaining persistent after five, ten, fifteen, or twenty successive generations, it 1s requisite that it should be proved that every variety and every variation— unless the existence of such be denied—returns to its type after the first or second generation, or is seen to modify its characters. xviil.—We cannot deny the possibility of the existence of varieties, persisting with their differences, for a longer or shorter time. xvil.—A great number of the species of the new school do not even repose on the proofs of cultivation, and the only guarantee for their legitimacy is simply analogy. xix.—The stability of certain species of the new school is contradicted by experiments made by the Linnean school. xx.—In the actual state of science, we cannot, from the present time, consider the great majority of species, be they of the Linnean or of the new school, but as provisional specific types. xx1.— We cannot admit the species created by the two schools as irreducible types, In our own age—our own geological period—until a very great number of experiments on their cultivation have been made, not solely by a few experimenters, but by a multitude of observers belonging to both schools : the results of which experiments should agree together. xxu.—As of all the practical criteria which have been extolled so far there is but one really practicable—that founded upon essays in cultivation—we ought most carefully to attach ourselves to it. xxlil.—tIn default of proofs furnished by cultivation, we may with advantage have recourse to the profound study of transitory forms. xxiv.—When two forms are connected together by other intermediate forms (not hybrids) establishing a gradual and insensible passage from one to the other, we are to a certain extent right in assuming that they con- stitute but one species, the individuals of which oscillate between certain limits. xxy.—Hybridism may also furnish proofs, to strengthen those derived from cultivation, but besides, that it presents great difficulties, some extra- ordinary facts have recently been brought to light, upsetting the ideas which have been admitted upon its results. 14 THE NATURALIST, NOTES ON BUCKINGHAMSHIRE PLANTS. By James BRITTEN. Spring has at last burst upon us in full beauty ; the reign of winter, extended, as it has been, far beyond its usual limits, could no longer with- stand the gentle influence of the vernal season, and suddenly gave way to more genial weather. The “green things upon the earth” have commenced their yearly task of praising and magnifying the Lord, and setting forth His goodness towards the children of men: and the flowers that have been fast bound beneath the soil spring again into life, “emblems of our own great Resurrection.” The first blossoms of the year have always a peculiar interest for the botanist ; he regards them with renewed interest as the fore-runners of the floral train, and examines them with a greater share of attention than he can afford to bestow upon the multitude which appear later in the season. Let me advise all those who wish to study botany, to begin as early in the season as possible: they will have but few plants to study; but this is better than waiting until later in the year, when the flowers crowd round us in such profusion that it is difficult to select any for special examination, so much that is new surrounding us onall sides. Any one who will carefully examine the daisy, the shepherd’s purse, or the groundsel, will obtain more real informa- tion and botanical knowledge than a mere collector can gain m a whole summer. As my rambles last year were received by the ‘“ Naturalist” with some degree of favour, I have ventured to jot down the following notes of my first really spring walk this year. My “hunting-ground” is the same as that of last season, the neighbourhood of High Wycombe ; and I have no hesitation in saying that it would be difficult to find a place more richly endowed with Nature’s treasures. It was but yesterday that I took a walk—a short, but most enjoyable one—to Dane Garden Wood. “Comin through the Rye” — (not the cereal, but a meadow so called) the Ranunculus Ficaria, or “ Little Celandine,” as Wordsworth calls it, was opening its golden blossoms in profusion : these may have been intended by Shakespeare when he speaks of “ cuckoo-buds of yellow hue.” This plant has been constituted a genus by some under the name of Ficaria: the characters distinguishing it from Ranunculus appear to exist in the relative number of the petals and sepals, Ficaria having nine of the former, and three of the latter; while Ranunculus has usually five of each: but this distinction does not seem to hold good in BRITTEN | BUCKINGHAMSHIRE PLANTS. 15 many cases. An interesting paper on this subject, by Professor Babington, appeared in Loudon’s Magazine of Natural History, vit., 375—377. In common with the other members of the genus Ranunculus, R. Ficaria has a true corolla, the calyx being composed of three, or more roundish sepals. The number of petals varies very considerably ; and an instance has already been given in the “ Naturalist,” of a plant, the blossoms of which were perfectly double. Both flowers and leaves have a peculiarly glossy appearance, as though they had been washed over with gum ; and the bright appearance of the former renders the poet’s words particularly applicable to them, when he speaks of the blossoms which shine “ like stars, to tell us spring 1s born.”— Not far from this was the magnificent Marsh, or March Marigold ( Caltha palustris) yast opening its rich yellow flowers, which are composed of five or six sepals; this plant has no corolla, but the calyx makes up in brilliancy and beauty for this deficiency. A double-flowered variety is cultivated in gardens, and is reported to occur wild in the Grandchester meadows, near Cambridge. In one corner of the Rye, near the little river Wick, I observed the Butterbur, ( Petasites vulgaris) in some plenty, bearing fine large heads of well-developed blossoms ; thisis a handsome species, and its leaves are, I believe, the largest among British plants; I looked for the fertile form. P. hybrida but could not perceive it. Leaving the Rye, and going up to Keep Hill, I saw through the hedge, some fine plants of Sedum Telephium, with Viola odorata in the greatest abundance ; here the purple-flowered variety predominated, though in some places in the neighbourhood the form with white blossoms (V. alba) is the more abundant. It must be clear to every one that this latter form has no claim to be considered even as a genuine variety. I gathered a very pretty specimen the other day, the petals of which were blotched with purple, and also saw others, exquisitely fragrant, but in colour pale lilac. Jam informed that near Buckingham V. odorata occurs with deep claret-coloured blossoms ; and that in some parts of Devonshire the form with purple flowers is but very rarely found, though V. alba is common, Mr. Watson appears to doubt the true nativity of the Violet, except in the Isle of Wight; but surely this is an example of carrying a principle too far. On Keep Hill, dwarf examples of V. hirta were observed: the absence of scent, and of creeping scions, as well as the difference of hue, well distinguish this from V. odorata, though some botanists have thought it not really a distinct species. On the sunny slope of the hill, the fierce and beautiful Tiger-Beetle (Cicindela campestris) was very abundant, apparently much enjoying the 16 THE NATURALIST. bright sunshine; and the Brimstone Butterfly (Gonepteryx Rhamnt ) fluttered gracefully along. Here, too, the handsome spotted leaves of Orchis mascula were showing themselves plentitully. Crossing the top of the hill, I entered Dane Garden Wood, the trees of which were just budding. Here was a complete undergrowth of Mercurialis perennis, with its insignificant flowers and dark green leaves, the latter of which in drying become a bright metallic blue. The delicate pink cones were just appearing on the larches; and the Yew ( Taxus baccata ) was in full blossom. Here and there the purple-veined flowers of the Wood-Sorrel ( Oxalis acetosella) were opening, but as yet sparingly ; while under the shade of the trees the Wood Anemone (A. nemorosa) unfolded its starry white blossoms, which are among the loveliest in Nature’s garland. ‘This, like the Caltha, has no true corolla ; the sepals form the blossom, and are stated to be six in number: in a little bouquet now before me, fourteen specimens have six sepals, ten have seven, and four eight. A beautiful variety is cultivated in gardens, the stamens of which are converted into small lance-shaped petals. The under-side of the sepals is sometimes colour- less, and at others shaded with pink, or pale blue. As the flower withers the colour deepens : in some cases, however, a pink, or even red tint affects the whole blossom. The Wood Rush (Luzula sylvatica) grew here in abundance ; and the Peacock and Tortoiseshell Butterflies (Vanessa Io and V. Urticce) occasionally enlivened my path. In this wood Daphne Mezereum had been long reported to grow; and as my many searches for it were on this day crowned with success, J may perhaps be allowed to make a few remarks upon the occurrence of this plant in Buckinghamshire. Professor Martyn, at the end of the last century, stated that D. Mezerewm srew “commonly in the woods” about Little Marlow ; but as this statement was never confirmed, it was thought by some that the other species, D. Laureola, was intended. From enquiries which myself and others have made on the subject, it would, however, appear that, among the villagers, no plant was better known than this ; known too by the right name, with the occasional variation of “‘Mezelion,” or “ Mazalum.” In nearly all the woods for some distance round Wycombe, it was reported to have occurred ; but unfortunately almost every one who had seen the plant growing wild, had transferred it to their gardens, and the gamekeepers in particular had made quite a small harvest of it, being able to dispose of the roots to gardeners and others for a triflmg sum. Under these unfavourable auspices it was not surprising that my many searches for D. Mezerewm had proved fruitless ; for BRITTEN : BUCKINGHAMSHIRE PLANTS. 17 though the plant was found last year both in Dane Garden Wood and in Fennel’s Wood, near Loudwater, I myself did not observe it. When I made enquiries regarding the trees in cottage-gardens, the answer usually was that _ “the children had brought them out of the woods”: men working in the woods had frequently seen it, and had usually taken it when seen: and every _ one was most obliging in information about the plant, though no one was _ able to show it me—one woman, in particular, in her anxiety to please, stated that “she had seen it, O yes! she had seen it: it had red berries, and | grew about so high,” the “so high” being at least seven feet! The very general occurrence of D. Mezerewm in this neighbourhood, over an area of _ at least twelve miles, and probably much more, seems to me to militate most strongly against the suspicion that it was originally introduced. It may be _ suggested that the trees in the woods are sown by the birds from the berries | of garden specimens ; but I am told that the contrary is really the case: one | person, who has several trees in her garden, assures me that none of them | were planted, but she believes “that the birds brought over the seeds from the woods.” ‘This is a new way of putting the subject which deserves con- sideration. About a fortnight ago, I found several specimens in a shrubbery _ at Hughenden, where they had possibly been planted: but yesterday, while | roaming over Dane Gardev Wood, observing Dentaria bulbifera coming up | in great profusion, and showing well for flower, I suddenly came upon two | beautiful shrubs of D. Afezerewm, in full flower, and about two feet in height. | I felt myself well rewarded for my exertions: and certainly walked home in | a state of great satisfaction. In the Park I saw very fine bushes of D. | Laureola in full blossom, emitting a delicious scent; here it was probably | planted, though it occurs wild in nearly all the surrounding woods. Vinca | minor was also abundant, though perhaps originally introduced : this, too, is | native in the neighbourhood. By the side of the river Wick, at the back part of the Park, Dentaria bulbifera was very abundant, with Ribes Grrossiu- | laria, not yet in blossom: and here my discoveries for this occasion termi- nated. Any future ones which I may make shall be duly recorded in the | * Naturalist.” High Wycombe, April 13, 1865, 18 THE NATURALIST. Aebieto. A paper wpon the Egg of pyornis maxt- mus, the Colossal Bird of Madagascar, by Gro. Dawson Row ey, M.A., Lon- don. ‘Triibner and Co. The acquisition of a unique specimen, and especially aspecimen of such import- anceas the egg of an unknown bird, ren- dered more interesting as a link between the geological and the present epoch, and which has formed a matter for much learned speculation, is undoubtedly worthy of being publicly made known, and in the paper before us Mr. Rowley has accurately described the specimen of the egg of d/pyornis maximus, of which he is the fortunate pos- sessor, besides relating its history and giving his ideas and speculations on the bird which produced it. The size of this, the largest ege in the world is enormous compared with that of any known living bird, being 124 inches in its longest dia- meter whilst that of a fine ostrich’s egg is only about six inches, and the capacity being in the proportion of about six to one; with the only other specimens extant which are now in Paris came the lower portion of one of the metatarsal bones found in the same locality with one of the eggs; this fragment M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire thought, indicated a bird shorter in the legs but thicker in the body proportionately than the ostrich and he placed the height of the specimen at from ten to fourteen feet. Whether this enormous bird still lives in the interior of Madagascar is scarcely matter of conjecture; our author thinks that if living within the last two hundred years it only lingered, but that it did remain till that time is shown by the fact that some of the cartilages were still adhering to the bones when found ; time will no doubt by the discovery of further remains of the bird elucidate this question, and we trust that ere long a whole skeleton, as in the case of Dinornis robus- tus, Owen., will find its way to this country. Reports of Societies, Society of Amateur Botanists.—At a meeting of this Society, held on the 19th ult., at 192, Piccadilly, W., the president, M. C. Cooke, Esq., in the chair, the Pres- ident read a paper from the ‘‘ Natural History Review,” apropos of M. Jordan’s new work, whichis now exciting so much attention ; he also gave a short reswimné of the botanical contents of the various Nat- ural History magazines. Specimens of Hutchinsia petrea, from the churchyard wall at Eltham, Kent, were exhibited ; and afew common spring flowers were laid on the table. The meeting was well at- tended.—B. Wycombe Natural History Society.—A meeting for the formation of the above Society took place on Wednesday, the 26th inst., and was well attended. The interest which the study of Natural History had excitedin one or two individuals, led them to believe that others might be led to share in their pleasures ; and the result has pro- ved that they were not mistaken. The aim of the Society will be to examine into the local productions, and to endeavour to gain some knowledge of the plants and animals which exist in such profusion in the neighbourhood. The Rev. T. H. Browne, F.G.S8., was elected president, and Mr. Hy. Ullyett, Secretary, for the present year. The subscription is half-a-crown per annum. It was resolved that there shall be a meeting held once a month or — oftener ; in the summer for field rambles, — and in the winter for comparing notes, &c. Seventeen gentlemen have already given in their names as subscribers.—B. ) Warrington Field Naturalists’ Society.— — The seventh monthly meeting of this so- ~ ciety was held on Wednesday evening, April © 5th, 1865, Mr. B. Kendrick in the chair. 9 The chairman exhibited a number of speci- — mens of Helix (rotundata ?) which he had — found in the stomach of a Starling ; most of them were entire. The Secretary re-~ corded an instance of the Boat-fly, Noto-— OBSERVATIONS. 19 necia glauca, feeding upon the larva of Dytiscus marginalis ; he also read the fol- lowing description of the Geometrical Leech Piscicola piscium, (Hirudo geometrica, L. ) “‘Body elongate, terete, gradually attenuated anteriorly, with suctorial discs at each extremity, the posterior larger than the anterior ; colour variable, usually greyish, closely sprinkled with irregularly shaped brown dots, the interruption of which at regular intervals marks the body out into seoments ; the disposition of these dots in the posterior disc is radiate, in the anterior somewhat cruciform ; a row of whitish dots extends down each side. Length, about one inch ; progression, geometrical, swims, like a leech, by undulations of its body ; habi- tat, affixes itself to stones in clear streams. The habits of this animal in confinement are very interesting. If two freshly cap- tured specimens be placed in the same vessel of water they frequently seize each other by twisting the foreparts of their bodies together, so as to resemble a knotted cord. Two leeches thus entwined will maintain their hold upon each other for half an hour or an hour, and when they separate each of them has a whitish fungus- like excresence protruding from its side. This embrace often results in the seeming death of one of them, for after the contact one of them is generally found lying at the bottom of the vessel, twisted into a pain- fully tight spiral. May not this be an act of reproduction? Another remarkable habit of this creature is the avidity with which it seizes fish that come into its way ; a stickleback on being put into a jar of water containing three of these leeches was almost instantly seized by them in succession, and all the efforts of the fish to dislodge them were ineffectual, their hold upon anything to which they attach themselves being most tenacious. It is in the habit of fixing itself to stones in clear swift streams, probably there lying in wait for the chance of seizing the fish, such as trout, sticklebacks, lampreys, &c., which, in ascending the streams, take advantage of the eddies to rest, and thus bring them- selves within the range of this parasite,’’— JOHN PreERsS, Hon. Sec. Observations, Appearance of the Cuckoo.—This summer visitant was first heard here on the 9th of April.—Joun Ranson, Linton-on: Ouse, York. Swallows. —Half a dozen Bank Martins (Hirundo riparia) were seen hawking on the Ouse, on April 9th, and my two chim- ney swallows (Hitrundo rustica) were first seen on the 16th, and other two, which build in a neighbour’s cowhouse were seen the same day. About six o’clock on the 19th, I was witness to the arrival of a flock of about fifty. They seemed very much fatigued, and rested for a considerable time on the ridge of a cottage, after which they dispersed to different parts of the village.—JouHN RANSON. Arrival of Summer Migrants.—It is with great pleasure, after a long and severe indisposition, [am enabled to send you notice of the first appearance this year of the following summer migrants : Wryneck, April 13th ; Swallow, April 16th ; Night- ingale, April 18th ; Cuckoo, April 18th; Redstart, April 16th ; Lesser Whitethroat, April 23rd; Greater Whitethroat, April 23rd ; Chiftchaff, April 23rd; Willow Wren, April 23rd. I have kept a close watch upon the beach, but as yet I have not noticed the appearance of any of the spring birds of passage which always resort to this shore fora few weeks prior to their departure for their breeding grounds in the North; they appear very late this season as do also the smaller insessorial birds of passage.—SamMuEL P. SAVILLE, King’s Lynn, Norfolk. Hunstanton Hall, April 23rd, 1865, per the Rev. F. O. Mor- Tis. Scarcity of Swallows.—Ten days or a fortnight ago I noticed in the ‘‘ Times” a note from one of their correspondents on the arrival, or non-arrival, up to that date, 20 THE NATURALIST. of Swallows this year; and having since had my attention again directed to it, it has suggested to me to write to you to say that the almost total absence of these familiar birds from this parish this spring, so far, has been most singular and unprece- dented. Up to yesterday, the 27th, I have not noticed in all, within four miles from here, more than a dozen swallows and mar- tins, if so many, when and where, in other years, hundreds and hundreds might have been seen. What it is the sign or the se- quence of, I cannot pretend to say ; I have only observed one solitary martin up to the date named,—one other, if it was ano- ther, for it may have been a sparrow, was seen between four and five o’clock in the morning, about a fortnight ago, flying up to its last year’s nest, in its ‘‘coign of van- tage’ over my window, as if to examine into the state of repair of its former domi- cile. I heard the Cornerake for the first time this year, at twenty minutes to four o'clock this morning, as I was taking a fourteen miles’ walk home before breakfast. F. O. Morris, Nunburnholme Rectory, April 28th, 1865. SUMMER RAMBLES ON THE ORME’S HEAD, LLANDUDNO. No. IL. Near Gogarth Abbey, which faces Conway Bay, I noticed fine plants of the Irish Shamrock, (Medicago maculata) covering the sheltered sunny bank below the ruin. On a closer inspection, I saw that the leaves had been eaten by the larve of a weevil beetle, (Hypera variabilis) that had revel- led, for aught I know, on the drop of St. Patrick’s blood! I observed the little net- work cocoons affixed to the withered leaves at the lower part of the stem. From these I bred the weevil in the course of a few days. A rare poppy, known as Papaver hybridum, was growing abundantly near the abbey ; the small flowers and rounded bristly capsules are sufficiently character- istic of this species, which chiefly occurs in chalky cornfields. On the grassy borders of the same field grew the Bee Or- chis (Ophrys apifera). 1 gathered several flower-spikes ; the bloom so closely resem- bles a humble-bee, as to give the idea of one actually resting upon it. The three Chats (Sawicoline) all have their nesting- places on the Orme’s Head. Few birds are so noisy and restless ; they seem as if they would attract observation by their very movements and chatter. The apple-green © larva of the Burnet moth, (Anthrocera Filipendule) I met with not unfrequently in my rambles. It feeds on the Trefoil, (Lotus corniculatus) and when full-fed, it suspends its yellow cocoon to the culms of grasses. I found these cocoons in plenty on the stems of mat-grass in Conway Bay. The Forester (Procris Statices) is equally abundant on the Orme, its sluggish flight rendering it an easy prey to the collector. The Vervein, ( Verbena officinalis) used by the Romans in their sacrificial rites, is plentiful along the footpath round the Orme. In more modern times, it seems to have been used medicinally, and this may ac- count for its being often found in the neigh- bourhood of old ruined abbeys. The most common butterfly on the headland in the summer is perhaps the Greyling, ( Hippar- chia Semele,) which feeds, in the larva state, on various grasses. It has a rapid, wavy flight, and is impatient of approach, darting from stone to stone, and basking in the hottest sunshine. Two of the Pyralide (Pyrausta and Ennychia) are often its com- panions, sipping the sweets of the wild Thyme, on which they may have fed in the earlier stages of their existence. The Another of the rarer Orchids (Zpipactis ovalis) plunges its roots into the bare rock, braving the full scorch of the noonday sun, and growing — in places where the Whitebeam (Pyrus Aria) alone seems to thrive. But de- cidedly the rarest plant of the Orme is the Cotoneaster ! This shrub is not known to grow elsewhere in the British Isles. Here it grows on the ledges of the limestone rock, tenanting the same rough scroggy Ennychia is a local insect. NOTES AND QUERIES—EXCHANGE. Pai ground as it does on the Continent. In autumn it is covered with its pendulous red fruits. It is near akin to the hawthorn, and others of the Pomaceee. On the same ledge of rock I found the Thalictrum flex- wuosum and Veronica hybrida. The Hen- bane (Hyoscyamus niger) seems perma- nently abundant at Llandudno. It is one of the Solanez, and like the Nightshade, it ' has a forbidding aspect. The flowers are buff-coloured, pencilled with lurid purple, and blotched with the same colour in the ' throat. The smell to some people is not unlike that of the leaves of the black-cur- - rant, and it acts slightly asa narcotic.— | Peter INcHBALD, Storthes Hall, April | 16th, 1865. Reason and Instinct.—Huxley ‘‘(Man’s place in Nature,”) seems if I understand him correctly, to suggest that articulate speech differs but in degree, from the mode of communication in use among our hairy cousins, and to agree with the writer of | Keclesiastes that there is no essential differ- , ence between ‘‘the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of a beast that goeth downward.” The mystery of life is the ; same in both cases at any rate. The accu- ) mulating power of knowledge possessed by - man is relied on by many, but when you go ' down to Bosjesmen or Andaman Islanders, where is this power? How much do they advance in a hundred generations ? Or, do they advance at all inthe sense meant ? Not so much as some animals do. For example : European bees were brought out to South America ; went in lively for honey and no mistake—first .year, good store—second, ditto—third, the bees found out there was no winter—fourth year, declined altogether making any accumulation, eat the honey when they chose, and went out to gather more. Is that reason or are we to shirk the question by calling it instinct? In no intelligible sense does this differ from rea- son—inductive reasoning, in fact, as good as if they had studied the Vovwm Organum. Verily, there is some greater fact behind all existence than we wot of.—HENRY BIRCHALL, Bogota, January 14, 1865. Alotes und Oneries. Early Mushrooms.—Yesterday during a walk with a friend, we gathered eighteen fine mushrooms, (Agaricus canvpestris) ; is not this an extraordinary circumstance at this early season.—J. Norru, Newsome, near Huddersfield, May 8, 1865. Grebange. I have in duplicate a good series of Pal- udina Listerti and Unio Pictorwm. Any Conchologist being in want of a few of the above, can be supplied by paying carriage. —SYDNEY SMITH, Church, near Accrington. Original Articles. NOTES ON THE MUSTELIDA OF NORTHUMBERLAND. No. I] :—Tut Bapeur. (Meles Taxus.) BYoLy ES GEBB: So rare has this quiet and innoxious animal become in Northumberland during the last twenty-five years that the appearance of one now is marked as a thing of note and is hailed with no small degree of pleasure by all true 20, THE NATURALIST. lovers of animated nature. Of my own personal knowledge, and from what Ican gather from the testimony of others better able, from their longer experience, to judge more correctly in the matter, they are gradually but surely becoming scarce and this too in a district which in the early recollection of our older inhabitants was comparatively thickly peopled by them. If this decrease of the badger be correspondingly great in other parts of Great Britain, I fear there may be reason to apprehend the severance of a link in our native Mustelide, and that Meles Taxus, will become as completely lost to us as the gigantic elk, which once roamed in all his majesty and conscious superiority, over the misty blue peaks of Helvellyn, the lofty and giddy heights of Ben-Nevis, or the cloud-capped summits of our own more modest Cheviots. This diminution in their numbers may be ina great measure attributable to the persistent and unmerited persecution to which from time immemorial they have been subjected. Up to the present time, if a badger is known‘to haunt a particular Jocale he is immediately sought after and encompassed by human foes, and sooner or later he is made to succumb to some one or other of their ingenious modes of capture, that he may be made the object wherewith to test the merits and hardiness of their dogs in what is popularly known as a “ badger bait.” The sooner the complete abnegation of this demoralizing practice takes place, the greater will be the chance of retaining Meles Taxus, a living representative amongst our indigenous mammalia. . The tout ensemble of the badger by reason of his short legs and heavy body is awkward and ungainly, and from the same cause his mode of locomo- tion is clumsy,and in many respects ludicrous, being something between a — shuffling walk anda slow amble, which is at all times deviating and irregular, and stands out in strong contradistinction to the xest of the weasel tribe, which are all pre-eminently graceful in their soft, lythe and undulatory — movements. His food is varied and comprises both animal and vegetable substances. When the one fails him he falls back upon the other and between the two — seldom wants a plenteous meal on which he thrives and generally attains, — without luxuriating daily on turtle or sowp julienne, to aldermanic corpulency — before retiring to his bower in the hybernating months. Like the Ursidw — he displays a great liking for honey, which he appropriates with the utmost sang froid, caring little or nothing for the stings of the enraged bees, b his thick mantle of fur proving a successful barrier to their combined attacks. 4 Frogs and other members of the batrachian order ; beetles, grasshoppers, z GIBB : MUSTELIDZ OF NORTHUMBERLAND. 23 and various other articulata, as well in their grub and pupal as in their perfect stages, together with the roots of succulent plants, are made subser- vient to his palate; young rabbits also become an especial dainty in contribu- ting to his homely taste, to capture which he enters their burrows, and should they prove too small to admit of his greater bulk he will speedily enlarge their entrance, if they are placed in a sandy bank, as is most generally the case, and seldom fails when such a mode of introduction is begun, in securing his victims. Some believe him to be a destructive animal in our game pre- serves, and that he destroys the young and even the adult game birds. Ina ‘limited sense only is this true, for the subject of our remarks lacks agility in locomotion, to constitute him a successful game hunter, and his usual and more natural food, which I have here described, requires little exertion to procure, while to prey upon game demands the full exercise of faculties for which by nature, acquired habit, and instinct, he is in no way adapted. Like the otter he is crepuscular in his habits and feeds almost exclusively at night and during the spring, summer, and autumn months when Hesperus begins _to shroud himself in his sable mantle, he leaves his burrow and stalks abroad for food, and as he winds his way along a broken path you may see him nosing the ground and with his snout turning up the surface for worms, roots, ‘and the larve of insects, making frequent windings in his course, now “stopping to catch a lost scent, or sitting erect on hinder legs as if listening ‘for some anticipated danger, at which time he might be taken with his - curious facial disc, for a sentinel or scout of the wild Sicux of the Colorado _wilds. In 1863 a very fine specimen was captured near to Acklington in an ‘ordinary rabbit trap which had been placed at the entrance to a rabbit | burrow, and this brings me to mention the susceptibility of the foot to pain: ‘for in this instance the jaws of the trap, possessing no great force or cohesive power only encircled the extreme end of the middle toe of the right for® foot, and although but a slight exertion was needed to free himself from the trap, yet it was sufficient to retam him an “ unwilling captive,” until he was secured the next morning by the trapper. The end of this individual, though ‘spared the painful ordeal of being baited with dogs, was perhaps not less cruel ‘than that which too often befals the most of his luckless race that have the misfortune to come under the protectorship and tender mercies of intellectual bipeds—for he was inhumanly shot in his prison house, that his skin might ) be forwarded to a taxidermist, perchance to be bungled in the stuffing by an unskilful artificer in the craft, into a distorted and shapeless mass of fur. The badger’s power of scent is strongly developed—by the aid of which he is 94 THE NATURALIST. enabled to follow, as truly as the finest nosed setter or spring pointer, the windings of a pursued animal with unerring accuracy and precision, This provision in his natural economy greatly assists him in discovering the hidden treasures of grub and pupa to be found underneath the surface of the earth, and while removing the soil for this purpose he is seen frequently to desist from his labours that he may the better and more certainly tell their where- abouts by the use of his olfactory organs. The wondrous muscular power of his fore limbs in conjunction with his long and powerful hard claws, con- stitutes him an adroit and skilful excavator, so that he can in an incredibly short time sink himself several feet deep into a sandy soil ; hence, the con- struction of a burrow in such a place for the reception of their young, is comparatively the work of a very short period. Their burrows are formed with no little ingenuity and skill, and always with an eye to the future comforts of the embryo family ; having numerous receptacles branching off at right angles to the main trunk, or passage, wherein are to be deposited the remains of rejected and offensive substances, which they usually cover over with earth as they are placed in them, thus keeping the family domicile in a cleanly and healthful condition. It has been said that the badger is a non- instinctive and stupid animal, but were there nothing else to refute such an opinion, than the foregoing illustration of his forethought and solicitude it is I think quite sufficient to place him in a rank inferior to none of his con- geners ; and even to few otheranimals for sagacity and reasoning powers. During the winter months when piercing Borean blasts flit through the leafless trees of his forest home, he retires to his burrow to hybernate, but, unlike many other hybernating mammalia, he never lays up a store of reserved food to minister to the calls of nature, and in consequence of this, when the genial warmth of spring arouses him from his somnolent condition, or partial suspension of nature, to resume an active existence, he is seen to be the very — antithesis in bulk of what he was in the preceeding autumn. In a few 4 weeks, however, he recruits his strength, and becomes rotund, fat and robust, — Late in the spring the female brings forth her young, of four or five in 4 number, for which purpose she usually makes her nest apart from her regular burrow. The badger is easily tamed and speedily forms an attachment to its — keeper—I have seen an adult, subjected only to a few days confinement, so — remarkably quiet, that it could be handled with impunity ; and even evinced ~ in this early stage of its domesticity, some traits of affection for the person 3S who fed it. He will never rebel without great provocation, but when once aroused to exert his energies in self defence, he becomes a most inveterate I Cee ee Oe ee GIBB: MUSTELIDA OF NORTHUMBERLAND. 25 antagonist, and when attacked by dogs, he seldom yields without inflicting summary and terrible punishment on his foes. He possesses the unenviable property, but one common in a greater or less degree to all the weasel family, of emitting an unctuous ill-smelling secretion, but whether he can exercise any voluntary control over this effluvium, cannot be ascertained ; although it is known to be always present to some extent when he is disturbed. In the rural districts, where he is known, and a primitive style of diction and simple mode of speech prevail, the distinctive epithet it “stinks like a brock,” is often applied to putrescent substances, and objects of offensive odour, as characteristic of Meles Taxus. This singular property is pre-eminently developed in a transatlantic congenerous species, the Skunk, Mephitis varians of North America,—so powerful and penetrating is the noisome and fetid odour which the skunk exhales, that I have felt its offensive intrusion at a distance of 100 paces from where I lay in bed, in a room in which both doors and windows were tightly closed. The badger is sociable in his habits, and when several individuals are located in one particular district, they are wont to fraternize together and form colonies in which they live in perfect amity one with the other—seem- ingly conscious of their naturally defective powers for rapid locomotion, and the better to secure their common and individual safety, they pitch their colonies in the most retired and secluded retreats. Inthe deepest recesses of some primeval and densely undergrown wood, or at the base of some rocky gorge, which from their inaccessibility to unwelcome intruders offer a safe asylum, the abodes of the badger may be found, but the greater number of these villages, or well selected retreats are now untenanted ; thus, affording another proof of the slow but perhaps not the less sure extinction of their once busy occupants. On the Rosscastle and Hepburn hills—on the wooded slopes of Biddleston, and in other such places throughout Northumberland, a few individuals may still at times be seen, at others very rarely. ‘The last ever seen in this neighbourhood, were a pair of young ones trapped a year or two ago, in the Duke’s Park, in our immediate vicinity. ‘They are pre- served at Huln Abbey, a notable monastic ruin occupied in the middle ages, by Carmelite Friars. The colour of the badger’s hair, which is thick, long, and compact, and tapers to a very fine pliable point, is a mixture of grey brown and white. The body is brownish grey, blending with a silvery grey on the sides ; the whole of the under parts, throat, breast, abdomen, legs, and feet, are of a deep brown, approaching to black. The upper parts of the face and forehead, up to the anterior part of the neck, is cream coloured white ; on each No. 27, June 1. f 26 THE NATURALIST. side of the face commencing at the nose, runs a definitely marked line of dark brown, which includes the eye and ear in its course, and terminates at the neck—the upper and under jaw and cheeks are also cream white. Thesingular distribution of the markings of the head and face gives it a unique, quaint, and venerable expression, and conduces not a little to render him a favourite with all those who view him apart from the unfavourable associations too often connected with him. The usual length of the badger is about 2 feet 8 inches, but I have met with them longer than this. The weight of a full- grown animal in good condition will exceed 30l|bs. Alnwick, April, 1865. NOTES ON THE ORNITHOLOGY OF NORFOLK. By T. E. Gunn. VARIETIES. Buzzarp. About the 20th of January last, a variety of Falco buteo was purchased in our market; the whole of its plumage was of a uniform dark chocolate, inclining to a lighter hue on its under part. Buacksirp. A nice female variety was killed at Hockering on the 6th ult. The crown of its head, cheeks, and all the surface of its back and wing coverts were of a dull ash grey, the feathers of the latter slightly margined with a faint reddish tint ; upper surface of its wings and tail white, throat and chest of a pale reddish tinge, a narow dark ash-coloured stripe running down the centre of each feather; abdomen, flanks and vent, white, faintly tinged with pale ash; under surface of its wing and tail feathers of a pale ash grey; under wing-coverts white; iris light brown; beak and legs, corresponding with the colour of its plumage being much lighter in hue than usual. Its stomach contained worms, earwigs, and likewise a few small fibrous roots. Rosin. January 31st, 1 saw a curious variety of Sylvia rubecula in the hands of one of our birdstuffers. It was obtained a day or two previous at Rollesby. The surface of its head, neck, back, and upper wing coverts was of a dull yellow ; its red throat and breast much paler than in ordinary specimens; upper surface of wings and tail of a pale yellow, gradually inclin- ing to white at the tips of the quill feathers ; the shafts of the same also GUNN : ORNITHOLOGY OF NORFOLK. 27 white, under surface of its wings and tail feathers of a pale yellowish brown, belly, white ; flanks, thighs and vent of a pale yellowish tint ; iris, light hazel; bill and legs, pale yellow ; it was a hen bird, and in very good condition. Cuarrincu. | 19) inches Bill tip to gap | Se S60 ... 5£ inches Tail 104 inches Iris, anew grey ; primary quill fathione blacks the second, the longest ; bill, of a uniform pale horn colour ; space around die irides and the base of — | bill, of a deep bluish black ; the two centre feathers of its tail project one and a quarter inches beyond the tips of the others. The outside surface of the shaft of the first primary quill feather, of a deep black; inside, white ; the shafts of the remainder, being of a pale tawney outside ; white, inside. The bird appeared in rather a meagre condition, its stomach beg empty. The male bird was in excllent plumage and condition. REPORT OF LIVERPOOL NATURALISTS’ FIELD CLUB. 999 Arctic Tern. A fine immature specimen was killed on our coast on the 31st of October. Its stomach contained the remains of shrimps and some pieces of seaweed intermixed ; and also two small white worms which were alive, Herring Gut. In examining an individual that had been killed on our coast during November. I discovered a small fish hook fastened through its neck just above its shoulders, it had doubtless caught an escaped fish, and in swallowing portions of it had fastened the hook into itself, it had apparently remained in that situation for some time the flesh was closed over and completely covered it ; the bird appeared in excellent condition, the un- usual appendage seeming no hindrance to it in swallowing its food. RicHaRpDson’s Skua. A mature male was killed on Hickling broad. The following are the correct measurements :— Tip of beak to tip of tail... 600 ae 18 inches Tip to tip of extended wings Sh ae 41 inches Wing from carpal joint .. pe ae 124 inches Tail not i bee 84 inches Bill (tip to gap) ae doe : 12% inches Trides, dark hazel nearly black ; legs and feet black ; bill the same ; the the whole surface of its plumage is of a uniform brown assuming a more paler and smoky tint on its breast and under parts ; first primary quill feather dark brown, the next lighter, attaining a slight rufous tinge ; the shafts of the feathers are white, as also are those of the tail at the base, gradually inclining to a brown, and attaining a black at the tips ; the two centre feathers of its tail project three inches beyond the tips of the remain- der. Fora description of an immature example of this species, see the Naturalist, Vol. I. page 2438. Norwich, November 30th, 1865. Aebietos, REPORT OF THE LIVERPOOL NATURALISTS’ FIELD CLUB, FOR THE YEAR 1864—5 Liverpool : Fearnall 1865. This very interesting Report contains notices of the Meetings and Excursions during the year, with lists of the prizes and prizcholders, &c. 300 THE NATURALIST. » Its labours seem to be principally botanical ; though Conchology and Entomology receive a share of attention. : The following plants,some new to the district, others from new localities, have been added to the Liverpool Flora during the year :— Primula caulescens. At Speke, Miss C. Grundy. Serratula tinctoria. Speke, Mr. T. Gibson, Sen. Silene noctiflora. Crosby, Mrs. T. Gibson, Jun. Linaria peloria. Seaforth, Mr. T. Gibson, Sen. Ranunculus hirsutus. Ditton and Claughton, Do; Potamogeton rufescens. Warrington, Do. Anchusa senypervirens. Allerton, Do. Geranium pusillum. Litherland, Aintree, Do. Geranium pusillum. New Brighton, Miss C. Grundy. Reseda fruticulosa. Waterloo, Mrs. T. Gibson, Jun. Hlordeum pratense. Waterloo, Mr. H. 8. Fisher. Poa compressa. Parkfield, Mr. H. S. Fisher. Rosa Jundzilliana, Bess., was discovered by Mr. Fisher and Mr. Webb, at Moreton in Cheshire. On the ballast at Birkenhead, Messrs. Gibson, Sen., and Fisher, have found Mercurialis annua, Lepidium ruderale, Ammi majus, and Ranunculus Pennsylvanicum. On the 24th January, a Soirée was held at which many interesting objects were exhibited, amongst which was a caseof ‘‘ four hundred bottles of seeds of British wild plants mostly gathered in the neighbourhood” by Mr. Gibson. We would strongly recommend all botanical students to make similar collections as they are extremely interesting and useful. At one of the meetings Mr. Pyzer shewed some ferns grown from spores sent by Samuel Archer, Esq., H. M. 98th Regiment, from Cashmere, which were identical with British species, viz. :—Asplenium fontanum, from very ancient ruins between Coree and Nowshaira on the Murree route to Cashmere ; Asplenium Trichomanes, from Coree, Ceterach officinarum, near Chicotee. A number of prizes according to the usual custom are offered during the following year, amongst which are, for ladies only, one for the collection and arrangement of the largest nnmber of plants in flower. One for the largest number of plantsin flower of a given order. One for the greatest number of plants. | One for tho largest number of species of larva of Lepidoptera &c. The “Session Prizes” are seven botanical, fourteen zoological, two geo- OSWESTRY AND WELSHPOOL NATURALISTS’ FIELD CLUB. 301 logical, two microscopical (Foraminiferss and. Diatomaces) and some other prizes offered by private individuals. Among the botanical are the Presidents’ prize of £1 1s. for the best series of botanical preparations exhibiting the distinctive character of all or some of twenty-four natural orders of which the names are given, the pre- parations to be made from one species only of each order; also general prizes of £1 1s. each, for the best general herbarium of one of the ereat divisions of the vegetable kingdom. The same plan is followed in the animal kingdom. These prizes are all to be given in books. One species of prizes hitherto given, we think scarcely wise, viz. : those given for the collection of the greatest number of “ rare plants”; will not such a prize have a great tendency to eradicate some of the rarer species from the locality. There could be no objection to this prize if it be merely- for the discovery of such rare plant, but in very few cases, if ever, ought it to be gathered. In every other instance we think the example set by the Liverpool Club, might with great benefit be followed by all others. The balance sheet of this Club which is included in the “Report” along with a list of members, shows it to be in a very flourishing condition and one which we doubt not many others will envy. There are seven hundred and two members, an increase of seventy on the previous year, and there is a balance of £50 in the Bank. OSWESTRY AND WELSHPOOL NATURALISTS’ FIELD CLUB, AND ARCHAZOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Reports of Meetzngs (with Papers read,) during the years 1857—64. Oswestry : Roberts, 1865. This Club has evidently done good work in the district in which it is situated during the nine years of its existence. ‘The evening meetings and excursions appear to have been well attended, and the papers read, of varied interest. It would be impossible for us to notice all these, but there are some among them which require more than a passing notice, and in selecting afew of these we would deprecate any appearance of being invidious, or any idea that those passed over in silence are without interest. One of the 3023 THE NATURALIST. earlier papers on the “ Geology of the District” by the then Secretary, shews that it would be difficult to find another district of equal extent where the Geological student would be able to examine such an extensive range of stratified aqueous deposits, which include nearly all the members of the Paleozoic system, from the Llandeilo to the Permian, also the base of the Mesozoic—the Trias, which in some places is overlaid by the older members of the Oolitic series. Mr. D. C. Davis, an indefatigable geologist, has contri- buted several papers, amongst which is one on the discovery of fossils in the Millstone Grit,a series of beds generally deemed unfossilliferous and certainly not without some little truth. However, Mr. Davis records the finding of a specimen of Sanguinolites variabilis in two localities,one on Sweeney Hill, near Oswestry, by Mr. Meredith, and another by himself and Mr. A. Norris, in a dark sandstone near Treflach Hall in March 1860. Rhynchonelle have been found in the cutting of the Oswestry and Newtown Railway, near the former place in 1859, and Fetraia and Orthis, near Llanfordaisaf ; fragments of Encrinites and Trilobites are also mentioned, but we certainly look with great suspicion upon them and should suggest further research as to whether these beds are really Millstone Grit. Have they not been found in some portion of what Mr. Davis calls the “ middle grey beds” of the mountain limestone in another paper (p. 51.) which in their upper portion pass into an “‘ impure sandy limestone” near Llanymynech ? At most of the excursions a number of local botanists were present, and one or two papers are devoted to that science. Several plants not common are noted in the locahty amongst which we may mention Cladium Mariscus, Osmunda regalis, Neottia nidus-avis, Chlora perfoliata, but no very great rarities are recorded. May we suggest to theClub the propriety of pub- lishing a Fauna and Flora of the district. We are certainly somewhat sur- prised to see several old names attached to some species, as Cistus Helianthemum, Fumaria claviculata, Cistus ma vfolius, Mespilus Cotoneaster, &c. We should be glad to see an annual instead of septennial report of the Society’s proceedings in future. Zoology appears not tooccupy a very prominent position in the Society’s labours—one paper only by Mr. R. G. Jebb, on “ Ornithology” having been contributed. This paper which was read at the *‘ Conversazione” on the 30th December 1864, gives a short sketch of the science, followed by a notice of some of the birds found in the district and their habits. NEWS—REPORTS OF SOCIETIES EXCHANGE. Aetos. A turtle was washed ashore on the beach near Gorran, Cornwall, last week. When found it was crawling up the beach towards land. Some boys at Trevesson Farm, pulled off its head with a crab-hook, and killed it. Its weight was about twenty- - eight pounds.—Reading Mercury. . Observations. A very fine specimen of the eared seal ( Otaria), has just been added to the collec- tion of the Zoological Society, Regent’s Park. This animal was captured by a sailor serving on board a French ship while off Cape Horn, who after some trouble and a few bites from his strange pupil has succeeded in rendering it so docile that it readily obeys its captor, fol- lowing him about, performing various feats and apparently bears, if the expres- sion may be used, some amount of affection towards its keeper, though to strangers its bearing is not altogether friendly. Some little interest attaches to this addition to the Society’s menagerie inasmuch as it is the first time an eared seal has ever been seen alive in the Society’s gardens or indeed in Europe before. Aeports of Socteties. The Quecketét Microscopical Club.—The ordinary monthly meeting was held on Friday, 26th January, at 32, Sackville- street, Piccadilly, P. Le Neve Foster, Esq., V.P. in the chair. Mr. Suffolk delivered ‘an introductory address on the microscope, preparatory to the establish- ment of Hlementary Classes for beginners in microscopic study. Mr. Archer also read a paper on the respiratory organs of Insects. There was a large attendance of _ members and their friends, Eleven gentle- 303 men wereelectedj;and eleven proposed for membership. A conversazione terminated the evening, many very interesting objects being exhibited. The Amateur Botanists’ Society. —At the meeting of the above Society held in London, February 7th, 1866, the Presi- dent in the chair, some leaves of Hedera conariencis were exhibited bythe secretary, to show how very nearly related it is to H. Helix. 'Two papers by Mr. Robinson, of Frodsham were obliged to be left over till the next meeting, as it had been resolved to devotea part ofthe evening to the examination of Vegetable Tissues with the microscope, and the President, also Messrs. Bywater, Ruffles, and Reeves, very kindly brought their instruments with some beau- tiful preparations for the purpose. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, the 7th of March. Geebange. I have saved a large quantity of seeds of Glaucium phenicewm, and will send a packet to any one requiring it, on receipt of three postage stamps. The proceeds to be applied in aid of the Building fund for New Schools. I have also a few dried spe- cimens of the plant, which I offer in exchange for examples of rare British plants. Address: Rev. W. M. Hinp., The Parsonage, Pinner, Watford. I have pupe of C. elpenor, N. dictcea, NV. ziczac, P. palpina, C. vinula,C. bifida, C. furcula, &c,. which I should be glad to exchange for pup of any of the fol- lowing A.atropos, S. porcellus, S. fuciformes, S. bombiliformis, N. Carmelita, L. versicolor, and C. bidens.—W. HE, Parsons, Califor- nia, Aylesbury. 304 Original Articles. NOTES ON BIRDS COLLECTED BY E. M. YOUNG, ESQ., In the vicinity of the Nile and in Palestine. By R. B. SHARPE. The birds which form the subject of the present paper, were collected — | by Mr. Young, during his trip to the East, in the winter of 1863 and the early part of 1864, and he has kindly allowed me to describe them. Although the list does not contain many birds, and few rarities, I feel great pleasure in presenting to the readers of the Naturalist, a description which may enable them to distinguish the species, should they at any time meet with any of them. In preparing this description, I have referred to the Rev. H. -B. Tristram’s paper on the Birds of Palestine, (Proc. Z. S. 1864.) Bonaparte’s Conspectus and other works. Mr. Gould’s works on the Birds of Europe and Asia, have also been of the utmost service in helping me to distinguish the species,and Mr. Young has supphed me with many valuable notes which I think, cannot fail to make the paper most interesting. It will be noticed that a few of the birds are met with in the British Islands,but none of them can be considered as common. Falco Asalon, Gm, and Upupa epops, Lin., are both occasional visitants, and of the other Sylvia tithys, Scop., and Lantus Col- | lurio, Boie., are sometimes, though notoften observed. As collecting specimens did not form the object of Mr. Young’s visit, the variety of species obtained | was not great, but in most cases, a pair, and sometimes more of each bird was shot ; and the skins, though slightly crushed in their transmission to | England, were well preserved, and I was easily enabled to identify them. 1. Butzo aueur, Riuipp.—North African Buzzard. Falco augur, Riipp. Faleo hydrophilus, Riipp. It was some time before I could determine this species, but I found a | specimen in the British Museum. I thought it might be B. rujinus, Riipp, but on comparing the specimen with that in the British Museum, | I have discovered it to be Buteo augur. These birds may generally be seen in Egypt, wheeling above the abodes of man, more often out of shot than within it. Egypt is peculiarly the home of Rapaces of many kinds.—A | recent murrain among the buffaloes had strewn the banks of the Nile in 1863 | SSS SHARPE : NOTES ON BIRDS COLLECTED BY E. M. YOUNG. 305 with dead carcases, and as birds and dogs are the only scavengers of the East, not a day passes but the travellers might have shot more Buzzards and Vultures than they could, or would, have preserved. 2. Exanus Mevanoprerus, Daud.—Black Winged Falcon. EHlanus ccesius, Sav. Buteo vociferus, Vieill. Two specimens of this pretty Falcon are in Mr. Young’s collection. They are chiefly remarkable for the beauty of the eye, which is large and of a deep crimson, and for their length of wing, which clearly marks them as a bird of strong and active flight. The predominating shade of the plumage is bluish grey, which contrasts strikingly with the black of the wing. ‘Their food is said to consist for the most part of insects. Both specimens were shot in the neighbourhood of Beni-soueyf, about seventy miles from Cairo. They do not seem to frequent the Nile except in Lower Keypt. 3, Fatco ®SALON, Gm.-—Merlin. Zysalon lithofalco, Kaup. Hypotriorchis lithofaleo, Gray. This is one of our British species, although the bird in Mr, Young’s collection seems of a darker hue, than any I have seen killed in England. Mr. Tristram says, that in Palestine, it was apparently only a winter visitant, not being observed after March. I suppose the plumage is lighter in the summer, when it visits our shores. The present specimen was shot among the palm groves of Nubia, where hawks and owls are very plentiful. 4, TINNUNCULUS ALAUDARIUS, Briss.—Kestrel. Falco tinnunculus, Linn. Falco brunneus, Beckst. Mr. Tristram, says, this bird is common everywhere in Palestine, excepting in the southern wilderness, and a constant resident. The Kestrel is familiar to all who have taken any interest in British Ornithology and therefore no comments are needed. 5. Upupa epors. Zinn.—Hoopoe. Upupa vulgaris, Pall. Upupa macroryncha, Sand. The bird was noticed in Palestine by Mr. Tristram, who says it returns _ there about the end of March. Mr. Young procured a very fine pair, the male especially being beautifully preserved. The latter may be known by _ No 45, March 1. U 306 THE NATURALIST.. the darker shade of the colouring; it is one of the commonest of Eeyptiar birds. Mr. Young shot seven in an hour upon the same heap of rubbish. It may always be found in and about the wretched mud villages, where it is attracted by the filth and putrefaction which are inseparable from Egyptian life. It was frequently observed in Palestine, but was less common there than in Egypt. 6 CrERYLE RUDIS, Linn.—-Black and White Kingfisher. Alcedo rudis, Linn. Ceryle varia, Strickl. This bird is very common both in Lower and Upper Egypt, remaining throughout the year, and breeding about April 1. It is curivus to see how tenaciously it would keep toa particular perch, generally a dry stick or a telegraph wire, if such were at hand. When in search of food, it might fre- quently be seen poised in the air over stagnant pools, till it suddenly dropped on some fish, diving completely beneath the surface. The fluttering of its wings, as it thus poised itself, was extremely pretty. The note isa shrill twitter, not often heard. The colour of the eggs is white. Mr. Young says he has often pursued this bird for more than a mile along the river bank, as it flew in front of him, continually perching, but never allowing him to get within shot, till at last, seemingly tired of the chase, it would fall an easy prey to the gun. 4 Murops viripis, Linn.—Green Bee-eater. Merops citrinella, Viell. Merops ferruginiceps, Hodgs. The constant presence of this little bird is one of those charms, which make the tourist forget the monotony of Nile’s mud-banks ; Acacia trees, (Arad : ‘Sont.’) and cotton thickets are full of them, and whenever a gleam of sun entices them from their hiding places, they may be seen dancing up and down in it, asif to show off to the best advantage their glossy green wings, and tapering tail feathers. They may occasionally be seen perched in rows of four or five upon the telegraph wires, which generally form part of an Egyptian scene. As many as four or five fell on one occasion at one dis- charge of dust shot. It is among the commonest of Egyptian species. Like the flycatcher it hunts from a fixed spot, seizing its prey on the wing, and then slowly returning to its former position. On approaching the Upper Nile, they became rarer; the last seen was at.Assouan. In Nubia there were none. The. ‘larger bee-eater was seen and heard constantly in Palestine, but the ssnaller species were never found again after leaving Egypt. ! a ! vs SHARPE ? NOTES ON BIRDS COLLECTED BY E. M, YOUNG. 307 8. OrocoRYs PENICILLATA, Gould.—Pencilled Lark. Otocorys scriba, B.P. Alauda penicillata, Gould. Not avery common bird. It is chiefly remarkable for a horn on each side of the head, which is erected perpendicularly when approached. They fly in companies of from three to twelve birds, and are tame and familiar in their nature. The present specimens were shot in the snow drifts of Hermon in J une, a nest was found with young ones hatched. It is I believe very common ir Persia, (See Mr. Tristram’s ‘ Land of Israel,’ where he calls it the . Persian lark.) It is found in numbers in the highest oo of Lebanon © and Anti- Lebanon. 9. Ruvicitia TiTHys, Scop.—Blackstart. Motacilla tithys, Linn. Ruticilla erytheea, B.P. Mr, Young has given me the following note concerning this rare species. “This little bird was not easily obtained; I shot it among the cedars of Lebanon, where its peculiarly shrill note attracted my attention. I had not ' geenit previously in Syria, but there seemed to be several among the cedar ' trees. Its cunning in keeping close to the thickest boughs, and dodging me round them as often as I caught sight of its red breast, for a moment was a quite provoking. After a chase of about two hours, I was fortunate enough % to secure the present specimen, not without a long hunt, for falling from a lofty branch, it was caught and hidden by a fork in the tree, and I had & almost given up the searchas vain. Myr. ‘Tristram shot the bird, I believe in the same neighbourhood.” Itis also known by the name of the Black Red- 10. SaxicoLta LeucomELA, Gould.—Black and White Stonechat. Motacilla leucomela, Pall. i] This pretty little bird (often confounded with S. capistrata,) is remark- able for its delicate form, and the strongly marked contrast of the plumage. : — M. Young says it was common in Nubia where he usually found it in pairs, He further adds, “ the nest of this bird I could never obtain, although I fre- quently felt sure I was close to it. It builds in the holes of the Nubian | q ‘tocks, and may often be observed upon a spray or crag by the river bank. I also found the bird in the Sinaitic SeREERD among the wadies west of the § peninsula, but it was not common, 308 THE NATURALIST. 11. Lanius cottvurio, Linn.—Redbacked Shrike. Enneoctonus collurio, Klein. Enneoctonus spinitorques, Klein. I was much struck with the great difference in size, that was so apparent between the English species, and that shot by Mr. Young. The male in my own collection is much larger, and the reddish colour isnot so preponderating in the British, as in the foreign specimen. Itisa very common bird in Syria, in the lower regions of whi:h country the present specimen was shot. 12. Hrrunpo Saviens, Leach.—Oriental chimney swallow. Cecrops Savigni, Bote. Hirundo rustica orientalis, Schl. This bird is similar to H. rustica, with this exception, that the parts which in our familiar species are white, are in the above bird, of a bright reddish colour. It is seldom found in Europe, though Mr. Young found it abundant in Lower Egypt, on his return from Nubia in February. Cixnyris osea, B.P.—Sunbird. Nectarinea osea, B.P. This is a great rarity, and was fully described by Mr. Tristram in the © |bis” 1865, where a very beautiful plate will be found. Mr. Young says, “‘ T shot several specimens in the thickets of Ain es Sultan, Jericho, where they were seen in numbers sucking honey out of the flowers. The female is an unpretending little bird of brown plumage, Mr. Tristram found occasional specimens both north and south of Jericho, but their home seems to be in the neighbourhood of Elisha’s spring.” Until brought into notice by Mr. Tristram, the species was represented by a single specimen in Antinori’s col- lection, though previously described by some authors as a Humming-bird. 14, EMBERIZA MELANOCEPHALA, Scop.—Blackheaded Bunting. Aanthormus caucasicus, Pall. Euspiza melanocephala, Bp. This bird is very common ;it is one of the sweetest songsters of Syria ; it might very well be taken for a canary, if its song were a little more pro- longed, but it is provokingly “‘ short and sweet.” It somewhat resembles our LZ. citrinelia, in its habits. It was curious to see how pertinaciously this bird alwsys chose the topmost twig of a bush for its perch. It was never satisfied with an inferior position. A distinction must be drawn between this species, and EZ. schen’clus, which is sometimes known as the Blackheaded bunting, but for which the name of Reedbunting is moreappro- priate. SHARPE: NOTES ON BIRDS COLLECTED BY E. M. YOUNG. 303 15. TurTUR CAMBAIENSIS, Bp.—Cambaian turtle. Columba cambaiensis, Gm. Columba erurgalensis, Linn. This is an elegant little bird, rather smaller than our own C. turtur. Ti is found in almost every tree, sont and sycamore throughout Kgypt and Nubia. Indeed the constant cooing «f doves mingling with the mur- muring of water wheels (sakia) is almost the only real music met with in this unmusical land. 16. PLuvIANUS MELANOCEPHALUS, Vie7ll.—Zic-zac. Charadrius melanocephalus, Linn. Charadrius egyptus, Gould. Sesson says, this bird is found in Senegal, and I have gathered a few facts from Gould’s Birds of Asia respecting its habits. It is called in common with AH. spinosus, the Zic-zac from its note, and it is a matter of some doubt whether this latter bird or P. melanocephalus, is the brochilus, which according to Herodotus, picks the Crocodile’s teeth. Gould seems to think this is the species, as, in his plate of P. melanocephalus, he represents the bird as performing the kindly office for the ungainly mon- ster. Mr. Young’s note contains a curious fact in relation to this bird, and records an instance of its surprising vitality. He says that, having shot a specimen through the head, he picked it up, staunched the blood, and put it in his pocket. Walking further on, he was surprised to see a trozhilus get up close to him and fly across the Nile, uttering its peculiar note. On feeling in his pocket shortly after, he found the apparently dead bird had come to life, spread its delicate wings once more, and landed safely half a mile or more across the river. 17. Hopioprerus spinosus, Bp.—The Spurwinged plover. Very common in Egypt. The natives call it the zic-zac in imitation of its cry. The present specimens were obtained at ‘Thebes. Gould _(B. of Europe) says these birds are very noisy in their habits, and the _ the sexes are so closely allied as to shew no perce difference. q | is known of its nidification. 8. Hiropias carzerta, Linn.—Little Egret. Eo, garzetta, Linn. Ardea nivea, Gm. Latham says it is called in Egypt, the “ Ox-Keeper” (more properly | : Buffalo-bird, all the oxen of Egypt being Buffalos,) from its habits of frequenting the backs of cattle, and feeding on the larva of Astrus which 510 THE NATURALIST. infest them. Its food consists of reptiles, insects, &c. Mr. Tristram says it was found in the marshes near Jaffa, in considerable numbers. Mr. 99 Young says, it is commonly called in Egypt “ the Ibis,” which is a totally different bird. The Egret is remarkably tame, and if one of a flock were shot, it generally happened that the whole flock persisted in flying over my head, or wheeling round and round as if to invite the fate of their comrade. I have not unfrequently seen a pair of egrets on one buffalo’s back.” 19. ArpEa russaTa, Waigl.—Rufous-backed Egret. Ardeola russata, Temm. Ardeola bicolor, Vieill. An interesting fact connected with this species is, that it was once shot in England, in the year 1805, near Kingsbridge, Devon. Of its habits and manners we have no certain account, bunt its food is said to consist of small fish, frogs and various insects. 20. ‘Toranus HYPOLEUCos, Temm.—Common Sandpiper. Actitis hypoleucos, Macgill Pringa hypolcucos, Linn. Called by the natives -‘ Beccasine.” ‘ Doves and Beccasines” were | the most delicate dish to be met with on the Nile. | 20, Harwood Terrace, King’s Road, Fulham, S.W. ON A FEW OF THE LOCAL FLOWERS OF HIGH WYCOMBE. By Jas. Britren. The following Paper was read at the Meeting of the High Wycombe Natural History Society, on 22nd January, 1866 :— | ‘‘ Having been requested by the Secretary to read a paper this evening, { have put together a few notes on one or two of the rarer flowers tu be found in our woods round Wycombe. Our locality is upon the whole a | favoured one for botanical treasures, and has not been so thoroughly worked | as many other parts of England. ‘The total number of British species of | flowering plants is upwards of 1500; of these we have within a radius of | five miles certainly 700 ; probably further search will discover more. The jf four plants to which I shall direct your attention are the Coral-root, the “BRITTEN: A FEW LOCAL PLANTS OF HIGH WYCOMBE. 3114 Mezereon, the Lily of the Valley, and the Snowdrop,—species which I have selected because three at least of them are pretty generally known, and. because they are especially interesting on account of their beauty or rarity. The Coral-root ( Dentaria bulbifera) is one of the rarer plants of this country, being found in but few of the English counties, and in but one Scottish locality, in the county of Ayr. It is a very elegant species, growing usually in patches in woods, and blossoming at the end of April and beginning of May. Though a tall plant, and having bright coloured blossoms, it is exiremely liable to be overlooked, except in the flowering season, as the stems and leaves soon wither, and the latter, in a young state, bear consider- able resemblance to those of the Gout-weed, “ Aiyopodiwm podagraria). The method in which the Coral-rool is propagated is somewhat remarkable : its elegant flowers seldom, if ever, produce seed ; nor is this necessary, for in the axils of the leaves are small buds or bulbs, which are described by Parkinson (an exhaustive writer of the 17th century) as being ‘ of a sad purplish greene colour, which being ripe and put into the ground will oTow to be a roote, and bear leaves like as the bulbes of a red bulbed Lllie.’ These bulbs easily drop off, and are with difficulty retained upon dried speci- mens; to them the plant owes its specific name bulbifera, or bulb-bearing. Lhe flowers are of a delicate purplish lilac colour, which, however, fades away when they are dried ; their shape at once places them in the order of eross-shapved flowers, cr Cruciferze, and they have a faint, sweet scent. Both | the English name Coral-root, and the Latin Dentaria, or Tooth-wort, are derived from the curious appearance presented by the root, which is long, thick, brittle, and very white, running along horizontally at a short distance beneath the surface of the ground, and somewhat resem'ling branches of white coral ; it is covered with large white scales, which are supposed to resemble teeth : when the root is dried, however, it shrivels up, and these peculiarities are no longer observable. Jn the olden times, Coral-root, like every other plant, had its ‘‘ vertues.” Parkinson says that ‘a dram of the powder of the roote taken for many days together in red wine is exceeding good for inward wounds that are made in the breast and lungs,’ and it is also ‘very beneficial to be drunke in the distilled water of the herbe called horsetail.’ This author appears to have first discovered the Dentarta to be a British plant, for in his ‘Theatrum Botanicum,’ a quarto work of about 2,000 pages he mentions it as having been found ‘at Mayfield, in Sussex, in a wood called Highreede, and in another wood called Foxholes, both of them belonging to Mr. Stephen Perkhurst at the writing hereof.’ He gives an 312 THE NATURALIST. illustration of it, which exhibits many features of interest. Ray, in hig ‘Synopsis, takes no notice of it, nor does Dillenius ; his subsequent editor Blackstone, in 1737, records it as growing abundantly in the Old Park Wood, at Harefield, Middlesex, a locality in which it may still be found ; and in 1801, Turner, in his ‘ Botanist’s Guide,’ mentioned it, on the authority of Mr. Gotoved, from the woods at Loudwater, between Beaconsfield and High Wycombe, a locality in which it still abounds. I have seen a specimen gathered in Dane Garden or Burland’s Wood, in 1852, and here it was observed by the members of this society on their first ramble in the past year. I have also seen it in the Winch Bottom, Oakridge, Booker, West Wycombe, Bradenham, and Kingshill Woods, as well as in Wycombe Park, among the trees which border the river; and the Rev. Bryant Burgess informs me that it occurs at Latimers, near Chesham. Besides the counties already mentioned, Kent, and perhaps Surrey, produce this very local species. Another of the most interesting plants which our county produces is the Mezereon ( Daphne Mvzerewm, ) known alinost to everyone in a cultiva- ted state, but comparatively unrecognized as a wild flower. Its bright pink or white blossoms, clothing the small bat rugged branches before the leaves venture forth, adorn nearly every cottage garden, and appearing, as they do, t the present season of the year, when even the humblest flower seems a treasure, it 1s, of course, proportionately valued. ‘Though leafless, well-attired and thick beset, With blushing wreaths, investing every spray.’ Although it has been observed in a greater number of counties than the Coral-root, it is perhaps really a rarer plant, inasmuch as one rarely finds more than two or three specimens in one spot. So popular a shrub is of course lable to extermination, from the fact that it is a cottage garden favourite; and in many cases the cottagers inform the enquirer that their ‘Mezelion,’ or ‘ Mazalum’ trees were brought by ther children out of the woods. Some botanists, and among them Mr. Watson, consider the Mezereum as introduced into the woods where it is found, by the agency of birds, an agency which is by some made to account for a great many facts which run contrary to their theories. Professor Babington, however, admits it as an unquestioned native. One person, living near Wycombe, who has in her garden a very fine Mezereum tree, assures me that she believes the birds brought it over from the woods, so that the poor birds seem doomed to be responsible in one way or another. Be that as it may, no one who has taken the trouble to observe for himself, can doubt that Mezereum was formerly BRITTEN: A FEW LOCAL PLANTS OF HIGH WYCOMBE. an pretty plentiful in our woods, where, indeed, Professor Martyn found it to grow ‘commonly,’ when he was Vicar of Little Marlow, at the end of the last century. Cottagers and gamekeepers have, however, greatly thinned its growth, and anyone who would find it must indeed seek diligently. It would occupy to much of your time were I to enlarge upon my own attempts at its rediscovery ; I may, however, mention that I first undertook the search in January, 1864, and never was anything so like looking for ‘a needle ina bottle of hay ’ as the hunting for that plant, then presumably in a budding stage, among dozens of tiny elms, ashes, &c., all of which really looked at first sight promising. In the following May, two botanists came from London to search for the plant, and to my astonishment, and I must add, envy, found it both in Fennell’s and Dane Garden Woods. A week after, I had an opportunity of following in their steps, but again without success. I will not deny that strong doubts crossed my mind as to the genuineness of the rediscovery ; we are, I fear, naturally disposed to depre- ciate the success of efforts which we ourselves have made in vain. And so the time passed on, and 1865 came, and I hunted again and again unsuc- cessfully, while, by way of adding insult to injury, new enquiries elicited accounts of new localities. ‘Thus, a woman gathering sticks had seen it ‘O yes, she had seen it, and it grew about so high from the ground’ (‘so high’ being about 7 feet), leading me to infer that her willingness to please was greater than her adherence to truth. It grew near Amersham, it grew in the Bradenham woods, it grew on Naphill Common, it grew at Kingshill, it grew in Winch Bottom ; it in fact, seemed quite ubiquitous, with the slight diiference of not being visible anywhere. ‘There seemed a spell against my ever seeing Daphne in her native haunts, until, on a fine spring day, the 12th of last April, a last search was undertaken in Dane Garden Wood, and, to my great delight, was crowned with success ; for in one part of the wood, obscure and unfrequented, were two or three fine Mezereon trees, about two feet high! I need scarcely add that I went home very considerably elated, feeling that my perseverance had been well rewarded. Perhaps it may seem to some that the discovery was hardly worth the trouble expended upon it, but the true naturalist will, I am sure, sympathise with my delight at my ultimate success. I have since noticed a fine plant in berry, in the wood opposite the Union House Saunderton, just above Avering Down Farm. The berries of the Mezereon are highly poisonous both to man and animals, although the robin and other birds devour them without detriment. The bark, also, is very acrid, and a piece of it in a fresh state laid npon the skin 314 THE NATURALIST. will raise a blister. In other climates, however, this acridity diminishes, and in Siberia the berries are given to children as a remedy for hooping- cough. ‘The advocates of total abstinence must look on Mezereon as one of their allies, for quaint old Gerarde tell us that ‘if a drunkard do eat one graine or berry of this plant, hee cannot be allured to drinke any drinke at that time ; such will be the heat of his mouth, and choking in the throat.’ The leaves are of a delicate green, and appear after the flowers at the top of the stem ; they soon, however, drop off, leaving the bright scarlet berries alone on the stalks, presenting an appearance more brilliant than the flowers which preceded them. Many species of Daphne are cultivated in our gardens and greenhouses: D. odorata, with exquisitely scented blossoms, which grow toa large size in Devonshire: D. pontica and D. Cneorum are perhaps the most generally known; the latter, an elegant species with trailing . stems, is reported to have been found at the foot of Snowdon, but some error is to be suspected, as no one but its supposed discoverer has ever seen it there. D. Laureola, however, is an undoubted British plant, and may be found sparingly in most of the woods in this neighbourhood. In cultivation, as in the Park, it attains a large size; the blossoms are pale green, with yellow stamens, and fragrant ; the leaves, unlike those of D. Mezerewm, are persistent, that is, do not drop off at the approach of winter ; the berries, when ripe, are black. Its flowers expand in January and February. It is known by the names of Wood Laurel and Spurge Laurel. The celebrated vegetable lace of Jamaica is the produce of a shrub nearly allied to the Mezereon, the Lagetta lintearta. ‘The inner bark is formed of as many as 20 or 30 lamine or layers of a substance of a very fine gauzy texture, of which caps and other articles of clothing have been made. The Lily of the Valley ( Convallaria majalis ) is of course too familiar to us to need any description. It is found sparingly in a wild state in most of the English and Scottish counties, and though a favourite border flower, is undoubtedly a native. The bright scarlet berries which succeed the blossoms are not so generally known. The root is considered good to apply to bruises, while that of a near ally, the Solomon’s Seal, ‘taketh away in one night, or two at the most, any bruise, blacke or blew spots gotten by falls of women’s wilfulnesse, in stumbling upon their hasty husbands’ fists.’ The specimen exhibited was eathered last May, in a wood near West Wycombe, where it grows in some plenty: itis also reported from woods near Booker and Hughenden, but I have searched the latter neighbourhood in vain. In some parts of Lincoln- shire, where this Lily is plentiful, annual excursions called ‘ Lilying parties ’ BRITTEN : NOTES ON THE OAK-LEAVED WOODBINE. ols are made to the woods. My last illustration, the Snowdrop( Galanthus nivalis ) ealled also Fair Maid of February, is a doubtful native of this country, being usually found in orchards, or in meadows near houses. It is not very uncommon in these situations, though by no means frequent in the Wycombe district. Last Spring, however, a friend informed me that wild Snowdrops erew at Knotty Green, to which place I went on the 2nd of March, a cold, bleak, gusty day, and found it in the greatest abundance on a bank adjoining an orchard, where it was at any rate, thoroughly naturalised. It also occurs sparingly in meadows near Bradenham.” The paper was illustrated by coloured plates and also by dried specimens : the Mezereon was shown in flower. A discussion then ensued on the question of native and naturalised species, and further information was elicited as to localities. MORE NOTES ON THE OAK-LEAVED WOODBINE. By James Britten. As a supplement to Mr. Kidd’s remarks on this plant * may I make one or two extracts and observations with reference to its past and present history ? Gerarde and Parkinson do not appear to have known of its existence ; and it was first brought into notice by Merrett, who in his Pinazx (1667) p. 92, mentions it, under the name of Periclymenum fol. guercinis, as having been found by Mr. Jenner not far from Oxford, this locality is quoted in Dillenius’ edition of Ray’s Synopsis, and a second is added on the authority of Mr. Knowlton—* on the way from Hitchen to Wembly”. Here it is named Caprifolium non perfoliatum foliis sinuosus. Blackstone in his list of Harefield plants, recorded it under the same name as occurring in White Heath wood near Harefield, plentifuily. In the 4th Edition of Withering’s ‘‘ Arrangement” (1801), vol. ii. p. 243, the Oak- leaved Woodbine is mentioned as “ Var. 2, Leaves indented” of the Com- mon Honeysuckle, and the locality of “ Sir J. Woodhouse’s Woods, Norfolk,” affixed on the authority of Mr. Woodward. From an article on the subject in vol. vi. of the new series of Phytologist, p. 317, it appears that Baxter recorded it from the counties of Oxon, Berks, Warwick, and Norfolk. In the Flora Hertfordienszs, (1849) p. 182, it is stated to occur * ‘Naturalist,’ Vol. ii. 298—4., 316 THE NATURALIST. “ not uncommonly in newly cut woods, probably a mere accidental varia- tion, produced by cutting strong plants down to the ground.” In the Phytologist as previously quoted, Mr. . Walker writes of a honeysuckle at Southgate which, growing at the root of an Oak, exhibited a great many sinuate leaves, and he seems to infer that this 1s in someway owing to the influence of its neighbour, a supposition which is not borne out by facts. The variety is not, I think, really a constant one. I have gathered on Wimbledon Common, Surrey, a branch of Honeysuckle bearing both sinuate leaves, and those with the ordinary unbroken margin; and suspect that a careful observer would find specimens partaking more or less of this The corresponding variation in the Snow- berry is very common; but I have never observed it in Leycesterta (not peculiarity in most districts. Legusteria,; formosa. The Oak-leaved Woodbine is frequently mentioned in horticultural works, and in catalc gues of shrubs, &c. High Wycombe, February 22nd, 1866. Obserbutions. Affection in a Dog.—When the mother of the present Robert Burton, Esq., of Fall- gates, Linton-on-Ouse, died, they were in possession of a setter dog. This was not present at the funeral, but for seven years after, every night he was in the habit of going to the churchyard, a distance of two and a half miles from the house, to mourn at the grave. The affectionate beast went to mourn its loss as long as he was able to scramble over the wall.—JoHN RANSON, York. An Early Hare.—A young hare was killed by accident on the Farnley Tyas Estate on the 21st instant: it was about a month old, and in very good condition.— G. Wixson, Thurstonland. A Happy Family of Cats.—Not a hun- dred miles from Thurstonland might have been seen a few weeks ago a kitten sucking its mother, and said mother sucking the kitten’s grandmother at the same time.— G. Wiuson, Thurstonland. Variety of the common Mouse (Mus mus- culus).—Last week I caught ja singular variety of the common mouse. It was con- siderably larger than two others caught at the same time, and also different in having the under surface, forelegs, and front part of the head perfectly white. Upon each side were two patches of greyish white. As several of the inhabitants of this island have assured me that ‘ill luck” invariably follows the capture of a piebald mouse, I presume that other examples have occurred. —Henry L. Saxpy, Baltasound, Shetland, February, 7th, 1866. Destructiveness of the Blackbird.—\n an old paper which fell into my hands a few days ago, I read a letter purporting to be written by a blackbird to the owner of a garden. The bird pleads innocence to the charge of pilfering cherries, and suggests that a change of gardeners would” remedy the evil. Any person writing such non- sense ought to have a well-laden cherry- tree, and encourage these innocents. Now, — NEWS. Sir, I have two cherry-trees, which are trees of note ; for age, fruitfulness, and the richness of the fruit. In a morning, before break of day, and every minute from that time to dusk, are these feathered thieves at work. They strip the fruit from the stone, 1eaving it hung; or they fly away with whole bunches to devour at leisure. In this work of destruction they are aided by the robin, most of our summer visitants, and the jay. He that has a cherry-tree in a country garden has got his work to keep the birds off. Rasps are also a favourite fruit of the blackbird, and ripe gooseberries he cannot resist. The quantity of goose- berries these pilferers destroy is very great. I have seen trees, upon which every berry had the contents taken out, and the skins left hanging on thetrees, and ina large berry garden if not well watched, they destroy pecks of fruit by pecking it and leaving it thus disfigured and unfit for market. 1 speak from experience, having suffered great loss at times by them.—J. RANSON, York. Within the last few days a very fine col- lection of birds and insects has been re- ceived from Mr. Edward Bartlett, now engaged in exploring the river Amazon and its tributaries. Among these there are supposed to be several species new to science. ‘ Escholtzia californica.—This plant, in some localities, is becoming quite wild. Its gaudy flowers, however, area drawback, inasmuch as they attract the attention of passers by, and tempt the ruthless hand of childhood.—JoHN Ranson, York. Erratum.—AUow me to point out to you what is palpably an error in Mr. Bradby’s Naturalist’s calendar, at p. 275 of the pre- sent volume. Under date April 26th, we read, ‘‘Cowparsley, Melampyrum pratense in flower.” There can be little doubt that Anthriscus sylvestris was theplantintended, this being commonly known by the name of Cow parsley. Melampyrim pratense (Cow-wheat) does not begin to blossom until June.—JAMES BRITTEN. 317 aletos. A liwing Animal Extracted from the Human Hye.—A living hydatid, of the spe- cies Cysticercus celluloso, belonging to the entozoa, a series of insects inhabiting the internal parts of animals, was last week ex- tracted from the eye ofa female by Mr. Woolcott, the oculist, founder and late surgeon of the Kent County Ophthalmic Hospital, Maidstone. The animal had been perceived for some time floating unattached in the anterior chamber of the eye, and sight was almost entirely lost by frequent attacks of inflammation. The occurrence of the entozoon in the human eye is very rare, and this is the second case only which has come under Mr. Woolcott’s treatment during twenty years’ practice as an oculist. The first came under his notice at the Ophthal- mic Hospital in 1849, soon after that in- stitution was founded: and, upon examina- tion with the microscope after extraction, two of the progeny were found attached to the tail vesicle of the Cysticercus.—Maid- stone Journal, Scarcity of Lobsters.—The following let- | ter has been addressed to the edltor of Land and Water :—‘‘Sir,—It may be useful to your readers, or Mr. F. Buckland, to know that small lobsters are in demand to-day at 7s. 6d. each, and thatin consequence I have been obliged to substitute the insignificant shrimp as sauce to a turbot. W.H.W.” Mr. Buckland appends a note as follows :— ‘‘T am not surprised at the information our correspondent 1s good enough to send. It is only just what one may expect, for at the breeding season tons of lobsters are annually sold in London, and their ova (called ber- ries) can be seen in clusters like grapes under the tail, If we will persist in de- manding the luxury of ‘berried hens,’ as they are called by the fishmongers, to figure on our tables as lobster salad or as sauce for turbot, we cannot expect that many young lobsters will be left to perpetuate the spe- cies. This is a subject requiring the most serious consideration and attention.’—F, BucCKLAND, in ‘‘ Land and Water.” 318 Flotes nud Queries. Mould on Lepidoptera.—In No. 41, page 255, headed Notes and Queries, I find “‘Mould in: Lepidoptera.” In answer to Mr. F. Wilkinson, I beg to in- form him, through the pages of the Naturalist, thatin the year 1861 I ex- hibited at the Infirmary Gardens a pentagon or figure of five sides, 18 inches high, which revolves on an upright axis. The outer base is 214 inches diameter, the inner 19} inches, turned in a lathe; each side is 74 inches at the bottom, 5% inches at the top, tapering up to the before mentioned height, with glass fronts. Each of these sides I filled with moths and butterflies. At the top of this again I have another glass shade 83 inches diameter, and 10 inches high ; un- der this I have a triangular figure of three sides, this I have filled with Coleoptera, Ne- uroptera, Hymenoptera, and other insects. The three days of the exhibition were very wet, for the rain came through the covered canvass, and the pentagon and the whole of the insects were quite damp and moist. After I got them home I dried them by the fire, and carried them up stairs to their proper place. Then in the year 1862 I took every moth, &c., out at various times, and with a camel hair pencil I run down on the underside of the body, not the wings, of each and every moth and butterfly, a pencil dipped in spirits of wine, in which I had dissolved some bichloride of mercury (corrosive sublimate) previous to using ; since then I have not seen any mould or any parasitical insect about them, and they are all and each of them in good preserva- tion and colour, and exposed to the light on anorth side, and from the sun’s rays. — JosEPH BLACKBURN, 42, St. Mary’s-street, Mabgate, Leeds, Feb. 20th, 1866. Earwigs.—In a communication to the Entomological Society, by Mr. S. Stone, THE NATURALIST. of Brighthampton, in remarking on the searcity of wasp nests last year, he says :— ‘That earwigs (which swarm to an extent I never before witnessed), wood-licc, and ants have been, in some degree, instru- mental in causing the destruction of nests, - especially during the earlier periods — of their formation, I have had abundant opportunities of proving.” And _ Pro- fessor Westwood said, ‘‘ He had no doubt that earwigs, which were this year (1865) unprecedently numerous, were equally in- jurious to bees, penetrating the hives and consuming the larve.” I have for some years paid great attention to earwigs, and I have bred many. colonies, and I vouch for the accuracy of their being carnivorous, for when in confinement they will eat flies, and attack even the spider. At large their diet is very varied ; nothing seems to come amiss. They are accused by bee-keepers of robbing the hives of the ‘‘bee-bread,” there- by causing the death of the young brood ; aud some old bee-keepers even assert, that they do, as the Professor thinks, consume the larve. I have frequently found them buried in the petals of a double hollyhock, where they wait the arrival of Hymenopter- ous insects in search of food, wheu they fasten onthe poor insects, which being entangled in the leaves of the flower, can make no de- fence, and thus fall an easy prey to their wily assailants. In their relations to one another, they are very kind, and the parents seem to be very anxious for the safety of their young. Unless forcibly broken up, the parents and their brood go together the whole winter, and may readily be found in the half of a bean, if astalk is left standing in the garden. I account for the great number last year from the fact of the dryness of the season, which gave the young brood a chance of attaining a good size, and of casting their first coats. In wet weather, many of them perish ; indeed few attain the period at which they cast their first coats. —JoHn RANson, York. 31g Original Articles. A FLORA OF HIGH WYCOMBE. By JAMES BRItreEn. I. INTRODUCTION. The county of Buckingham is to a very great extent terra incognita to the Botanist ; and itis in the hope of throwing some light on, and making some additions to its floral productions that the following pages have been written. While many at least of the neighbouring counties have been comparatively well investigated, and their treasures brought to light, Buckinghamshire has been overlooked—few, indeed, are the printed records of its rare plants, and those “ few” very “ far between.” Although I hope, at a future period to publish a complete Flora of Bucks, my atten- tion has been at present restricted to the southern portion of the county, or to the district which is comprised within a radius of five miles from the town of High Wycombe, which district also embraces small portions of three other counties :—Oxon, Herts and Berks’ and as I have had the assistance of one or two friends in working out the Botany of this neigh- bourhood, I have thought it better to publish a localised list, as nearly complete as possible, of its plants without further delay, hoping that this may form the nuclous of the Flora of the whole county. If. GEroLoeicat. The close connection which exists between the plants of any district and the soil upon which they grow, cannot be overlooked; and I have therefore obtained from my friend Mr. Ullyett the following sketch of the Geology and general aspect of the country round Wycombe, which being entirely devoted to the deseription of localities subsequently mentioned, will in no way interfere with the paper already published by Mr. Browne, upon the same subject. :— * ‘‘ High Wycombe is situated in one of the numerous valleys of the Chiltern Hills, which form a portion of the Chalk System of England, as it stretches from the Thames in a N.E. direction till it sinks beneath the Sea at the Wash. ‘The valley lies nearly E. and W. and is bounded Bety by hills rising to the height of two or three hundred feet. In * Naturalist vol. ii. p. 266. 320) THE NATURALIST. consequence of this direction it lies open to the east winds, which make it very cold during their prevalence, but at the same time the town is to some extent sheltered from northerly ones. Several other valleys intersect the hills on both sides, but only one of them—the Hughenden— or more properly Hitchendean Valley, is watered by a stream. This however, is very often dry and when running is very small; it flows into the Wyck, formerly called the Ouse, a tributary of the Thames. Through these valleys go the high roads, winding round the slopes of the hills, along tracts of country most delightful from their tranquil scenery. All the hills are composed of chalk, the uppermost of the Secondary Formations, and where sections have been cut, they have laid open to view the Upper Chalk, with numerous flints neariy always in regular lines of stratification, and the Chalk marl with scarcely any flints at all. Immediately beneath the Upper Chalk in a few localities, is found the Chalk Rock, which, owing to its greater hardness and durability is some- times used for building purposes. Over the chalk is a thin stratum of soil, often only a few inches in depth, which produces clover and all kinds of cereals under the diligent hand of the husbandman. ‘The only pasture land is to be found down in the valley. Numerous beech woods cover the sides of the hills, and form good hunting grounds both for the ento- mologist and the botanist. The highest ground in the neighbourhood is that known as Whit- tington Park near Lane End, about four miles from Wycombe; it is a large wood consisting mostly of beech trees, the summit being crowned with a cluster of Scotch firs, which stand out in dark contrast to their lighter-hued brethren. It is very damp, in some parts boggy, notwith- standing its elevation ; this is owing to a considerable thickness of clay that here caps the chalk; many plants mentioned in the list are peculiar to this locality. 'The village of Lane End stands on the Tertiary formation which has never been properly examined, but which is of the Middle Eocene period, many of the fossils found in it having been identified as belonging to the Bugshot Beds. Various kinds of sand, gravel, and clay are dug up here, and used for industrial purposes. It is evident to the eye of the geologist, as he stands on a summit commanding an extensive view, —on West- Wycombe Hill for instance—that the London Clay, or some Tertiary deposit answering to it in contemporaniety, once covered all these hills, but has been washed off; all the summits appear to lie nearly in the BRITTEN. FLORA OF HIGH WYCOMBE. B24 same plane, except- Whittington Park, and Lane End, and these two, pro- jecting only a few feet above the others are still covered with it ; but the majority of the others show either bare chalk immediately under the soil, or else perhaps a few feet of mingled clay and flints-— probably the detritus of the floods that carried away the superincumbent formations. The ground slopes gradually down to the River Thames, the valley of which is of considerable width in some parts, and consists chiefly of gravel, covered with a soil more suited for pasture than for arable land, It is pecu- arly rich in its flora. The gravel has, no doubt, been deposited by fresh- water agency ; it is beautifully stratified, the layers consisting of fine gravel, coarse large flints, and very finely broken small ones, such as we see at the bottom of small rurning streams. The locality referred to as Fern Field near Well End, shows these bands well. Downley Common is composed of gravel overlaying the chalk at a con- siderable height ; and further along, on that part of it called Naphill Com- mon, we meet with Boulder Drzft. This is composed of very tenacious, dark red loam, of the depth of which I am not certain, but I have seen excavations reaching to twenty feet, and from what I have heard I do not think the chalk lies much further down. This loam is unstratified, and devoid of shells ; it has in many places, heaps of chalk flints and pebbles, mixed with mud in great confusion. Immense boulders many tons in weight are dug out | here, they are composed of a very compact sandstone, which is used in the form of small blocks for paving. They are found on the slope of the hill towards North Dean, in which latter place, and at Denner Hill, further on in the same direction, they are also dug out. On the 8. W. slope of Naphill Common, in a field by the side of the lane leading to Bradenham Green, we find large boulders of conglomerate or plum-pudding stone, but no sandstone. I counted fifty, and from the protuberances of the turf, there were evidently as many more not far below the surface. They were continued along the Green as far as the Risborough road. Fennel’s Wood near Loudwater is mostly chalk, but in the highest part a considerable quantity of gravel has been left. Several old hollow lanes wind down the sides of the hills in the neigh- bourhood of High Wycombe, some of which at least, in times of yore formed the beds of mountain torrents; at the present time they are most delightfal - tambling places, decked in the utmost profusion with all kinds of climbing plants.” No 46, March 15. Vv By THE NATURALIST. Til. Expnanatory. T had originally intended to terminate the present list with the Naiadacce, as my attention had hitherto been devoted almost entirely to the. higher Orders of Flowering Plants ; but I trust now to be able to carry it through to the Filices, as I shall be able to “look up” the Glumacee, &c., while the earlier portion of the list is in course of publication. I must, however, state my present inability to determine which we have of the multitudinous species ot Rubus and Salix, but hope during the coming season, to do something towards the discrimination of the former at least. The list is arranged according to the fifth edition of Babington’s ‘“‘ Manual,” a reference to which will be found after the name of each species, any remarks in inverted commas, coming before such reference, are taken from the ‘‘ Manual” itself. The only other work from which frequent quota- tions are made, is the first volume of the Old Series of the “ Phytologist,” (Phyt, i. OS. pp.983—995.), which contains a long and useful list by G. G. Mill, Esq., of the plants of Great Marlow, and is here occasionally alluded to as the Marlow list. One or two other works are incidentally referred to. Among those who have personally rendered me assistance, I must thank especially, Miss Chandler, Dr. Bowstead, and Mr. Ullyett, of Wycombe ; Mr, J.C. Melvill, Mr. T, P. Lucas, and one or two others whose names I am not at liberty to mention, but whose communications are placed in in- verted commas. The localities marked MS. are contained in a list of Loud- water plants kindly communicated by a friend. | The following are the signs which I have employed in the list ; when affixed to a locality instead of to a species, they are to be understood as regarding the species 7m that locality only :-— : scarcely naturalised in the district. naturalised, but probably originally introduced. | + ++ “© Possibly introduced, but now having the appearance of a true native.” [ | Some doubt attaches to the species or locality thus enclosed ; or, the former is one never reckoned among British plants. Following a locality or authority, signifies that an authentic speci- men has been seen. For all the information for which no other authority has been given, lam responsible ; nor have I felt it necessary to quote from other works any par- ticulars the accuracy of which I myself have proved. As I have exercised the greatest possible care and discrimination, not only in my own observa- BRITTEN: FLORA OF HIGH WYCOMBE, ovo tions, but in collating those of others, I may perhaps hope that but few errors may be discovered. A short summary, with statistics, will be given when the list is completed ; and 1 trust that the following pages will contain sufficient new and reliable information to render them not altogether valueless as a contribution to British Botany. Cuass 1. DICOTYLEDONES. Division I. THALAMIFLORA. Orpver L—RANUNCULACE:. Cuematis, Linn. ‘Traveller's Joy. C. vitalba, L. Bab. 3. Hedges, general. THatictrum. Lznn. Meadow Rue. T. flavum, lL. Bab. 4. Hedgebanks in Newland ; common by the Thames, and by the adjoining ditches. Anemone. Linn. Windflewer. A. nemorosa, L. Bab. 4. Woods, general. Norr.—In some places, as at West Wycombe and Loudwater, the blossoms assume a deep red hue before withering ; near the former locality a single specimen was once found, similar to that figured in Scvence Gossip, i. 105, having one of the sepals growing among the involucral leaves. Avonis. Linn. Pheasant’s Eye. * A. autumnalis, L. “ Rare.” Bab. 5. Two or three specimens were found in 1864, ina field of saintfoin by the field path to Totteridge. Myosurus. JZznn. Mousetail. MM. minimus, L. Bab. 5. Corn and clover fields near Little Marlow, abun- dant ; and in similar situations on the: Berks side of the river near Cookham. _ Norr.—Occasionally found with the receptacle forked at the top. Ranuncuuvus. Linn. Crowfoot. R. trichophyllus, Chaix. Bab. 5. If I am not mistaken as to this species, it grows in ponds and ditches near the Thames about Marlow, and also " near Cookham, Berks. R. heterophyllus, Sibth., Bab. 6. Ponds, general: - R. circinatus, Sibth. ‘“ Not common.” Bab. 8. “ Abundant in a pond 7 at Little Marlow, not far from the Thames.” Mr. J. C. Melvill. £&. fluitans, Lam. Bab. 8. In running streams, frequent. 324 THE NATURALIST. BR. hederaceus, L. Ivy-leaved Crowfoot. Bab. 8. Marshy ground on Lane End Common ; ‘in ponds on a common by the Oxford road, about halfway between Marlow and Stokenchurch,” Phyt.i. 983. O.8., not common. R. sceleratus, L. Celery leaved Crowfoot, Bab. 9. Marshy ground, and by ponds, frequent. R, Flammula, L. Less Spearwort. Bab. 9. Whittington Park ; sae End; marshy meadows near the Thames, &e. R. Lingua, L. Great Spearwort. ‘“ Rather rare.” Bab. 10. “ By the water called the Strand, Cookham,” Berks. FPhyt. 1. 983, O.S. Rk. Ficaria, L. Pilewort. Bab. 10. Woods and hedgebanks, common and very ornamental. . auricomus, L. Goldilocks. Bab. 10. Woods and banks. . acris, L. Bab. 10. Meadows and waysides. ot . repens, L. Bab. 10. Common in almost every situation; very luxuriant in watery places. Norr.—A variety having semi-double flowers is not unfrequent. R. bulbosus, L. Bab. 10. Meadows, &c. Norr.—This and the four preceding species are indiscriminately called ‘ Buttercups’ by children. A specimen having perfectly double blossoms was once found in a meadow near Wycombe ; and specimens with semi-double flowers are of frequent occurrence. + R&R. arvensis, L. Corn Crowfoot. Bab. 11. Cornfields, general, though not common in the immediate neighbourhood of Wycombe. Norrt.—A most troublesome weed, and one which is much hated by farmers, who believe that it burns up the roots of the corn, and call it ‘‘ starve acre.” The extremel ig , Sree eae prickly nature of the carpels has earned for it the curious local name of ‘‘ Devil o’both sides.” R. narvifiorus, L. “ Rare.” Bab. 11. Hedgebank by the road from Sheepridge to Well End ; ‘‘on the left bank of the Oxford road immedi- ately out of Marlow. ”Phyt. 1. 983. O.S.; hedgebank, Booker Common; bank at Littleworth, near Downley ; near Penn Wood, Mr. T. P. Lucas. | CattHa. Linn. Marsh Marivold. C. palustris, L. Bab. 11. Marshy ground and river sides. Herieporus. Linn. Hellebore. : Hf. viridis, L. Bab. 12. Abundant in a wood near Kingshill, on the right of Boss Lane, between Boss Lane Farm and Cold Harbour ; Matching’s Wood, opposite Bradenham, above Avering Down Farm ; hedgebank, Winch Bottom. + H. fetidus, L. Bear’s-foot. Bab. 12. Plantation at the back of Bra- denham House ; Plantation, Hughenden Woods, above the middle lodge. | RANSON: BIRDS NBSTS. 325 - Aguimmecia. Zinn. Columbine. A. vulgaris, L. “Not common.” Bab. 12. In many of our woods, though seldom flowering. Dane Garden Wood, Hughenden Woods, Marlow Bottom, abundant ; Bisham Wood, Berks. — Devenintum. Linn. Larkspne. ~* D. consolida, L. Bab. 12. Roadside, High Wycombe, 1861; in a meadow near the Rye, 1863, Miss Chandler / ; in a clover field near Great Marlow, 1864; field above Keep Hill, 1864, Miss Chandler / ; “ one plant in a field on the Wycombe road, about half a mile from Marlow,” 1864, Mr. J. C. Melvill; meadow, Little Marlow, 1864, Miss Chandler ; near Cookham Lock, Berks ; cornfield, Well End, 1865. Not perma- , nently established in any of these localities. Aconitum. Linn. Monkshood. ~ A. Napellus, L. Bab. 12. A small patch in Wycombe Park, near the waterfall. OrverR IJ.—BERBERIDACEE. Berseris. Linn. Barberry. B. vulgaris, L. Bab. 13. Hedge at the foot of Keep Hill; £ also in a shrubbery, Wycombe Park, but probably there planted. Mare in this district. Orpver IIL—NYMPHASACEH A, Nympumwasa. Linn. White Waterlily. NV. alba, lL. Bab. 14. In the Thames, abundant. : Nupraar. Sm. Yellow Waterlily. NN. lutea, Sm. Bab. 14. With UX. alba. (To be continued.) BIRDS NESTS. By J, Ranson, Tue Creeper. Certhia familiaris. This little bird may easily be overlooked by the casual observer, and, although I am generally on the look out when at work in my garden and about, I did not perceive a pair which had built a nest in a hole in an apple-tree, last year, until I accidentally saw the hen come out. The nest, which was made externally of dry grass, 326 THE NATURALIST. mingled with very small twigs and moss, and lined with feathers, contained eight eggs, which, had I not had ample opportunity of knowing better, I should. have said, were the eggs of the Titmouse. Hrpce Sparrow. Accentor modularis. This little plain and unas- suming bird, is one of my feathered favourites, and last year I was favoured above measure with their confidence, for I had no less than seven nests in my garden ; four of which were in one stick heap. A friend of mine tied up a double wall-flower to a stick, and in the head of the plant thus bound up, a pair built a nest, and brought up four young ones. The nest was close to the garden seat, which was in daily use. Buutirinoy. Pyrrhula vulgaris. The nest of this handsome bird, is not generally found near the dwellings of men, but in woods. Last year, a nest was taken in this village in a hedge row, which borders the common causeway between two villages. The cock bird while sitting on a twig was killed by a stone thrown at it. | BuackHEADED Bunting. LEmberiza schoeniclus. This bird is the water-sparrow, and ring-sparrow, of the North Yorkshire boys. It is common here and often finds its way with the common sparrow into the brick traps set in the fold yards during winter. The general site of the nest is near the water ; Yarrell says, it ‘‘is generally placed on the ground, among coarse long grass or rushes, at the foot of a thorn, or on the side of a canal bank,” One I found last season, was about three feet high up in a road-side -hedge, a very unusual place, the hen was taken with the nest. Cote Tirrmousse. Parus ater. This little, restless entomologist, 1s very numerous in some parts, where old apple orchards are common. In this part of Yorkshire they are not so ; last year I found two nests, one in an old stump about a foot from the ground, and in the other case in a rat hole in an old “ stoop.” This nest was robbed three times by two young ladies, who succeeded in adding twenty one eggs to their string out of this one nest. After this the hen actually laid another setting ; sat on them, and brought off a brood. PartRIDGE. Perdix cinerea. Last season, a nest of a partridge was found in the hedge bottom, close by a stone heap, on the roadside. It contained the extraordinary number of thirty-two eggs. It was discovered by a man breaking stones, who showed itme. They were forsaken, I suppose by the noise and neighbourhood of the old man. I should suppose two hens had laid in this nest, as they often do. Patridges seem to me to like road- side situations for their nests ; perhaps for the purpose of dusting. Linton-on-Ouse, February 186. 327 ON THE ABUNDANCE OF CYNTHIA CARDUI AND OTHER LEPIDOPTERA IN 1865. By G. F. Matuew. The extreme abundance of Cynthia cardwi, durmg the summer and autumn of 1865, in widely distant localities is a fact worthy of some slight notice. This species it is well known appears in some years in great numbers and the next season perhaps only half a dozen individuals are to be met with. Last year it seems to have been even more numerous than it has been for many previous seasons. I first noticed it In any quantity about the middle of July, in the neighbourhood of Bantry, County Cork. In this locality, a month later, 1864, I do not recollect having observed a single example. The next specimens were seen under most peculiar circumstances, viZ., on the 4th August, while we were hove to on the broad Atlantic, in Latitude 51° 33” N., Longitude 38° 17” W., watching the ‘ Great Eastern ” in her fruitless endeavours to recover the broken cable; a butterfly was dis- covered by one of my messmates floating on the water close to the ship’s side, and as he was aware of the interest I take in such matters, he called my attention to it; and I was surprised at seeing an apparently fresh Carduz on the water with wings spread out, still alive and struggling violently but in vain to regain its native element. It was quite calm at the time and had been so for several days, with the sea of course as smooth as glass. The next observed was on Sunday, the 6th August, while in Latitude 51° 26’ N., Longitude 38° 46” W, ‘There had been a dense fog during the early part of the morning, which cleared off at noon, and the sun shone out brightly. It was then while I was walking on deck that Cardui flew by and settled close before me expanding its wings to the sun. This specimen continued to fly about the ship the whole of the afternoon. These two butterflies must have taken a passage from Ireland either in the “‘Great Eastern” or the ‘‘Terrible.” At St. John’s, Newfoundland, Cardui occurred in the utmost profusion ; indeed, with the exception of three examples of a Pieris and a few Vanessa atalanta, and urticc, (which did not differ m any way from English speci- mens,) it was the only butterfly 1 observed during our visit to the island. It was not only abundant in the perfect state but also as larve and pupe. On the 21st August I took a drive with two of my messmates some distance into the country, and Cardwi swarmed on the wild flowers on each side of the road, flying up in our faces as we passed by and proving quite a nuisance, 328 THE NATURALIST. In the neighbourhood of Portsmouth I noticed it commonly in September. Near Barnstaple it was also numerous. I take the following from my journal dated 30th September, 1865, :—‘‘ The abundance of Cynthia Cardui, Macroglossa steliuiarum, and Plusia gamma, this season in the neighbour- hood of Barnstaple, and indeed by all accounts throughout the country, is remarkable. While walking through a large clover field to day, the latter species rose by thousands and the air swarmed with them. This field is situated on a hill, and looking over the brow towards the horizon it appeared. as if it was literally raining moths. C. cardui, was also very common in this field sucking the nectar from the purple clover flowers, while every now and then a golden C. edusa mingled with the throng. WM. stellatarum 1 noticed by dczens at a time on our lawn, flying principally before the flowers of the verbena, scarlet geranium and fuschia. Sunday the lst October, I sauntered out on the lawn, early before breakfast, while the dew was on the grass and the fowers smelt fresh and fragrant. In a large rustic basket, scarlet gera- niums were in profuse bloom. Picking a bunch'I held them in my hand and stood perfectly still, as there were several humming-bird moths feeding busily at the time, and I wished to see if my nosegay would attract them. I had not long to wait for presently one of these pretty Hawk moths ap- proached and hovering in front of me proceeded deliberately to rifle each flower of its sweets, introducing its long spiral tongue into flower after flower, and so close was it to my face that I could distinctly feel the wind produced by the rapid vibrations of its wings. This certainly is one of the most interesting Lepidoptera we possess. Who would imagine such an aérial being was the produce of a green crawling caterpillar, feeding a month ago on some neighbouring plant of Galium ? On our lawn, growing out of an old rotten moat is a large standard fuschia which was much frequented by M. stellatarum and next to this is a standard pink thorn now covered thickly with bright red berries. I often saw these moths fly from the fuschia to the berries and hover before several ere they discovered their mistake. This proves that they are guided by sight and not by smell in seeking for their food.” During November Curdui and stellatarum were abundant at Malta, and I have seen many of the former species in ragged attire still on the wing here, at Corfu, where it is now cold at nights.—My father writing to me, dated, 8th October, observes :—“ On Thursday afternoon, while passing a garden we saw on three or four large plants of Michaelmas daisy about a hundred painted ladies sitting as thick as they could, they were all bright and fresh, and looked beautiful in the sun. Did you ever hear of such a number HOBKIRK - NOTES ON BRITISH MOSSES. 329 having been seen together?” In conclusion may observe that C. cardi, appears to. be generally distributed throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. Hf. M. 8. Terrible, Corfu, 2nd January, 1866. NOTES ON BRITISH MOSSES. No: V. By CuHas. P. Hopkir«. Grimmia Hugyria, Wils. M.S. My friend, Dr. F. Buchanan White, of Perth, has kindly forwarded me a small specimen of a moss new to science, gathered by himself during the past season at Stenton Rock, Perth. Stenton Rock I am informed by Dr. White is by no means a large place, and would appear to consist principally, if not entirely of Trap. The moss which he found here has been provisionally named by Mr. Wilson, Grimmia Hugyria, and appears to be allied to G. alpestris, and G, Doniana; the inflorescence seems to be both monoicous and dioicous, more frequently the latter. In the absence of any diagnosis from fresh specimens I am unable to give any description of this moss and _ there- fore merely wish to record its having been found in the locality above named ; but I hope ere long that the readers of the Naturalist will be put In possession of its specific characteristics from the pen of the eminent bryologist who has given it its provisional name. Stenton Rock appears to be rich in mosses, Dr. White having gathered there besides the species just named, Grimmia commutata, G. trichophylla, G. Schuiizi, G. leucophea, G. pulvinata, Tortula intermedia, T. tortuoso, T. subulata, T. papillosa, T. ruralis, Weissia controversa, W. crispula, Zygodon viride, Z. Mougeotu, Bryum alpinum, Bartramia pomzformis, B. ithiphylla, B. fontana, Leucodon sciuroides, Pterogonium jilijorme, Hypnum plumosum, Didymodon rigidulum, and many other commoner species. Also Asplenium germanicum, A. septentrionale, A. trichomanes, A. Adiantum-nigrum, a ie Z Lar} bi 4 Ee | pg] OOO RO mMwOwMe ie9| 5 SB lof POPQoaanrn = mM ot WN Oo SRUSE aa hy Bir Elie ne aac ne 5 ea S B reer aes pas eee pee a gs pee Sy Wit SF 1: | DmMODmDMMDH SS Se 1 I AOD ADMAAS s mi RW OUON ke O S mH ob a = oa “ OS] mH OS OOo Go G9 . 8 1S SONS Oe Partridge. a st | lS b © 9 © 90 5 oe Oo — et pe 2 Oy Che WR oe : & g 2 ae oy Sq en Oo nm oo| -Beasants e O° | Sil 62 Go HS Ge STS Ore ee Zz TR =m S| = Lh pa ea iy oodcoets Ue © Sy COO ONS ® e ie =) _ ° Re Ou bo me mh - Snipe. ge & wo | LOO or or wo © Se =) GO| r+ 4 et = SS a lea] Saleh co ty Se blares ob OlNDOOWITN HY aoa a am Ol oO OW DO wWb Rl as We Ou G9 G9 dO GO Od bO ne z SSE Se Se ES SS olonias co 4 Qi AF eCoe SE So Bi [Sol OWaAad ® 2 B |S Wild S R SY Sw OT ee bho = Sel Se elec) Ducks . B, | 100 Go sO et Go DO : u © SI : s re mT) CO et Oe bh = # |elaie oo ktm ee] Teal = S| vo Oo 2 else S rom ex| Wigeon. _ : tf & om i . ‘ Oo] om a 6 2_[Other Binds JAMES ASPDIN NOTES ON NORFOLK ENTOMOLOGY—ZEPIDOPTERA. By T. E. Gunn. Parr VII. Nocrurnt. Acherontia atropos, var. On the 20th of September last, I was so fortu- nate as to secure a curious variety of the larve of this species from a lad who stated it was obtained during the morning ina garden helonging to Mr. Richardson, in Mile End lane, near this city. It measured five inches in -length,and was of a uniform brownish olive, assuming a yellowish hue along the surface of its back, with the exception of the second and third segments, these being white, inclining to a faint pinkish tint ; down the centre on this peculiar marking, runs two streaks of dark amber which are intersected by a very narrow line of straw colour. The cross markings along the centre of its back are brown, as also are its anal claspers, the small oval dots in each of the segements at the sides are blackish brown. The pinkish oblique markings on its sides are very faint. The whole surface of the caterpillar (with the exception of the two segments previously mentioned) is densely spotted with small white dots, more particularly on its under parts. Its head is yellow streaked with several very fine lines of black. Anal horn, pale amber, feet, black. Not being able to procure the potato leaves, I gave it some of the convolvulus upon which it fed very voraciously fora few days, it then burrowed its way into the mould I had placed in the breeding cage for its reception. QOnthe 5th of October it changed to its pupa stage from whence I had hoped the imago would emerge in due season. I was however, doomed to disappointment, as a mischievous mouse found its way into the cage and. devoured it with other pupe, leaving me the empty cases only. This variety of Acherontia atropos, according to Stainton’s Manual of British Butterflies and Moths, is of rare occurrence, therefore, thinking that these few details may be of interest to some of your readers, I take this opportunity of recording them. My brother, Mr. W. Gunn, executed for me an accurate sketch of the above which I now have in my possession. GEOMETRA. In reply to Mr. Hammond’s query, see Naturalist, page 240, respecting my notes on the Geometre of the Norfolk Fens, I beg to observe that C. munitata and L. salicata, were both taken by Mr. Winter in our fens, speci- GUNN : NORFOLK ENTOMOLOGY. 363 mens of the same are now in two other collections besides his own. P. trepidaria and lapidata, were accidentally included, and may be erased. LEricelata is found sparingly at Herringfleet, and all over the heaths from there to Yarmouth, the late Messrs. Curtis, Wigham and Sparshall used to visit Herringfleet, (a favourite hunting ground of theirs,) the latter in whose collection it was, but I cannot be certain if he took itthere. Many of the food plants of northern and mountain species, such as various mosses, hepatica, Lichens, Hypericum elodes, Salzx, and other species are to be found pretty abundant in our fens, therefore, a 7s not improbable for the above Species to occur. PSEUDO-BOMBYCES. P. plumigera. Was included by mistake in my notes, see -Vaturalist, page 219. } Nocrus. Nonagria elymz. . This species new to Britain was first discovered in the Norfolk Fens by Messrs. Winter and Crotch, on the 27th of June, 1861. Two of the specimens captured were exhibited at the August meeting of the Entomological Society of London. See the Entomologzst’s Annual, for 1862, page 108. Plusia oriehacea. Taken once at Aldeby, in 1849, at light, by Mr. W. Winter. ‘The specimen is now in the collection of A, F. Sealy, Esq., at Cambridge. DELTOIDES. Hypena proboscidalis. Abundant everywhere. ff, rostralis. Ranworth, Mr. Winter. HI. crassalis. Ranworth, Mr. Winter. Hypenodes albistrigalis. Not uncommon. Cawston, Ranworth, &e. Schrankia turfosalis. Not uncommon. Cawston, Rev. T. H. Marsh. Rivula sericealis. Ranworth, Mr. Winter. Herminia barbalis. Not uncommon. Foulsham, Ranworth, &c. HI. tarsipennalis. Not uncommon. Cawston. Ranworth. A. grisaelis, Not uncommon at Neatishead, Ranworth, and around Norwich. Rare at Cawston, Rev. T. H. Marsh. Hf. cribralis. Ranworth, Mr. W. Winter. AVENTIA. Aventia jlecula. Rare. Neatishead, Mr. I. S. Sayer, Cawston and Wood Dalling, the Rev. T. H. Marsh, and Mr. Geo. Norris. N orwich, December, 1865. 364 Reports of Societies, Wakefield Naturalists’ Society.—On the 15th March, Mr. Talbot exhibited a number of beetles, among which was Dorcus parallelopipedus, taken from an elm, at Kirkthorpe, Wakefield, nearly a week previously. He gave a short account of its habits, and stated that many trees were being rapidly destroyed by them. On the 5th April a great variety of speci- mens were laid before the meeting. Mr. Oxley exhibited a number of plants in flower. Mr. Roberts laid upon the table eggs of the Common Thrush ( 7wrdus musi- cus, ) and of the Blackbird ( Turdus mer- ula, taken on the 18th ultimo. Mr. Talbot exhibited anumberof beetles, Synodendram cylindricum, taken fromthe willow. Hehad also taken them fromthe ash. Healsoshewed a great number of Coccinella 11-punctata, found clustered beneath the bark of a tree. On behalf of Messrs. Hindson and Mars- den, he exhibited the complete skeleton of a stoat thickly covered with feathers from the brown owl. It was taken from a hollow branch of an oak tree, at some dis- tance from the ground. The gentlemen, above-named surmise that the owl must have carried off the stoat intending to dine off him, and that he not being a consenting party resisted, and the desperate struggle resulted in the death of agressor and victim, and thus they were found occu- pying one common grave. avewus. An Invasion of Frozen-out Deer—As the depth of snow deepened on the Braemar hills and upland glens, the deer with their usual precision, congregated upon the low grounds. At first, with judicious care, hay was sparingly laid out in small quantities ;. THE NATURALIST. but owing to the uniformly increasing depth of snow during January, the gamekeepers of both Old and New Mar Lodge, with a staff of assistants, have daily been laboriously engaged in laying out large supplies of hay and other proven- der at convenient situations, which was greedily devoured almost as soon as given out. The starved herds in most instances followed closely in the wake of the carts of hay, several of the leading stags even becoming bold enough to snatch an occa- sional mouthful on the route. Perhaps the greatest difficulty experienced by the gamekeepers was in protecting the weak and young deer from the attacks of the strong stags, which in several instances boldly endeavoured to monopolise the con- tents of the various heaps, to the exclusion of others. In the vicinity of Old Mar Lodge, and on the Carr Hill and adjoining plateau to the east of the New Mar Lodge, the stags have herded together in fabulous numbers. In fact it would appear that the strength of both forests has gathered at these places. The proximity of such neigh- bours, however, has been a source of trouble and, in many instances, serious loss to the farmers, whose stackyards, and turnips in pits, and under other cover, have been boldly attacked by the prowling invaders, which, asthe severity of the weather in- creased, have become proportionately auda- cious in their inroads.—Hdinburgh Evening Courant, The other evening, a few minutes before ten o'clock, the lioness “ Alexandra,” at Mander’s Grand Menagerie, now exhibiting at Knot-mill fair, gave birth to nine fully- developed cubs. Such a number at one litter is unparallelled, the usual litter being’ from twotofour. ach of these interesting little strangers represents a commercial value of £150. Capture of a Golden Hagle.—Last week a large golden eagle was captured at South OBSERVATIONS. Fallownow, near Coldingham. It mea- sures 7 feet 11 inches from tip to tip of wing, and is in fine plumage. It was caught in an ordinary steel vermin trap by Simon Bathgate, gamekeeper to John Ram- say L’Amy, Esq., of Dunkenny.—Hdin- burgh Courant. os The Dodo.—The known remains of the dodo are but few, but the hypotheses built on what few relics have been discovered aremany, and in some degree various. The investigations of Messrs. Strickland and Melville proved that the bird really was a gigantic ground pigeon, doubtless feeding its young with the milky secretion of its crop, like the whole of the columbine birds of the present day. The views of Messrs. Strickland and Melville as to the structure of the dodo have been remarkably borne out by the discovery of a large number of bones of the bird in a small morass in the Mauritius, known as the ‘‘ Mare aux Songes,” which had been drained for agri- cultural purposes. These bones have been carefully examined, and an elaborate and very valuable paper, descriptive of the osteology of the animal was recently read before the Zoological Society by Professor Owen. In addition to a com- plete set of the bones retained for the national collection in the British Museum, a considerable number of duplicates have been obtained. These were sold by auction by Messrs. Stevens, of London, on Tues- day. ‘They were arranged in eight lots so as to make each one as complete as possible. The lots were contested for with much spirit, by a numerous assemblage of scientific gentlemen, several of whom were connected with the natural history depart- ments of the British and Continental museums, and the collection eventually realised the sum of £83.—Manchester Ex- aminer and Times. Obserbations. Lanius excubitor.—A fine specimen of the Great Grey Shrike, Lantus excubitor, in full plumage, was killed on Lord Lil- ford’s estate, Bank Hall, in this county, on the 12th of February, and was forwarded. to Thomas Jones, of Church, for preserva- tion, upon dissecting it, it proved to be a female bird.—SYDNEY SMITH. Supposed Variety of the Spotted Wood- pecker ( Picus major ).—I havelong been puz- zled byasingular example of this bird, which I shot in this island (Unst), in the autumn of 1851. Perhaps some reader of the Naturalist will oblige me with his opinion. The specimen in question has the crown of the head red, slightly spotted with black, and in this, as in most other points, re- sembles an ordinary example of the great spotted woodpecker in the plumage of its first autumn, only, the under parts are much streaked with brownish black, and the whole of the wing coverts, except those immediately above the tertials, are ash gray, with their central portions black ; the rump and the nape of the neck are also of those colours. —HEnry L. SAaxsy, Balta- sound, Shetland, March 28, 1866. Albino Starling.—A carpenter, named Craig, at Bigadier Hill, north of Enfield, has a stuffed white starling in his parlour which was shot at Slough, Bucks. He has also stuffed a very dark squirrel with a white tail, which he shot near his cottage. He will be glad to shew them and other stuffed creatures to anyone calling.—W. R. Tate, 4, Grove Place, Denmark Hill, London. Fringilla spinus.—On the 2nd January, while I was out with a gun, I came across a flock of the Lesser Redpole, feeding,— and being in want of a pair for preservae tion, I fired at the flock, and when I went to pick up the birds I had killed, to my surprise I found that I had killed four 366 Siskins, Fringilla spinus, but owing to my shot being too large I spoiled them all ; they appear to have been very numerous in this locality, for I came across a person who showed me some that he killed behind his house, in a wood, three weeks after I killed mine; these were amongst a flock of the Lesser Redpole, and would allow one to approach within ten yards of the tree they were in ; going through all the ma- neeuvres of theBlue Tit. The bird appears to be almost unknown to this locality.— SYDNEY Situ, Church, near Accrington. Rare Hggs.—lt will be interesting to ornithologists to know that I have just added the following genwine eggs, collected in Norfolk last season, by a gentleman, to my collection, Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus Americanus, Gould), Rock Thrush (Turdus Saxatilis, Temm.), Little Bittern (Ardea minuta, Mont. ), Golden Oriole (Oriolus galbul1, Pew), Roseate Tern (Sterna Dougalti, Gould), Sandwich Tern( Sterna cantiara, Gould.) W.B, SHARPE, Vanessa urtice.—This beautiful though common butterfly appears to have been rather numerous during the winter months. On the 18th February, some boys followed one of these butterflies for a long distance, but unhappily it went over a wall, and was lost to sight, the ground being covered with snow at the time: also one of this species entered the door of a private house, at Blackburn, on the 7th March ; it being very cold and frosty on this date. I have also seen accounts of a butterfly occurring at Stalybridge, near Manchester, and another at Bury, which I think will be Vanessa urtice.—S. SMITH. Hypnum purum, &c.—I find in an article on ‘* Mosses” in your last number, that Hypnum purum and H. triquetrum, are 9 JAN 1686 THE NATURALIST. said to be rarely found in fruit in Britain, it may perhaps be interesting to know that I have found them in one of our woods near High Wycombe in fruit,and could probably do so again. Climaciwm dendroides grows in a very small patch of ground in our park ; perhaps I should say did grow, for though I found several specimens in 1863, I have not been able to find it since. If Iam not greatly mistaken a friend of mine also found C. splendens and H. squarrosum in fruit here. C. dendroides was not in fruit. —Hy. ULLyErt. Vanessa cardwi—was plentiful with us last autumn : I took several specimens in splendid condition, and varying much in size; V. atalanta was exceedingly nu- merous ; it appears fond of fruit ; I have seen a dozen at a time feeding on the over- ripe plums on one tree. Arge Galathea was not at all rare in one or two localities. Argywuis Paphia breeds in profusion here every year, but I am afraid we shall lose A. selene, as Wycombe Heath is being ploughed up. (See Naturalist, Vol. L., p. 260). Itis hardly worth while mentioning M. stellatarwm, as all our magazines and newspapers have been full of letters about it: but I saw one flying up and down a chalk pit so late as Nov. 14th. Larve of A. atropos were unusually abundant. Among early appearances this year I noted V. urtice in High Street, on New Year’s Day, but I judged it to be only disturbed from its sleep in one of the houses, as it was very lazy. To the list of butterflies in Vol. I., p. 261, I must now add Lyccena alsus which I took here last year. It is only found on one bank, but there it sports about by hundreds. To the list of moths, in the same volume, p, 302, I can add Cheerocampa Elpenor, several larveeof which I found on the willow herbs in the park. Hy. Uttyrtt, High Wycombe. END OF SECOND VOLUME. Printer & Publisher, 12, New-Street, Huddersfield. > y Le Mi i i Se PON a a ee a eee i at ne al Pee ee) re we ¥ ’ anes s ebore eer 4°. 7 al eA ts ae ef wa: ya 72 tr e* * wen O19 0 wow 3 ory ee ae Le x Gan Se \ ; aa <= ; : oF SRF = nee : na ee ¢ LAL oy tee if aa Tose + Th th be eek it af an wits ¥ Fs ripat marevs res Sek = u yeyre » dete " piP LF are jr ansy A SL ore ss Die eh benent 5 Oe, An Ae a Se i ee ne ere ree Ag i pieascrs eo a Kp me FFT Vater eae ks