on, I covered with a paper to correspond with the ground colour of the insects to be preserved. I then cut some boards into slips, about half an inch wide, and of a thickness to correspond with the body of the insects, covered them with leather, and glued them round the edge of the other board, which, when done, formed a sort of drawer. Having made as many of these drawers, of an equal size, as I thought would be convenient to be put together, I strung them at the back with whip-cord, and bound them with an open back similar to a book. On gumming on my specimens, I found the above plan afforded an additional advantage, and one of great use, that of having figures of the caterpillar and chrysalis placed against many of the specimens, which I accomplished by drawing and colouring them from nature, on card-board, cutting them out with the scissors, and gumming them near the specimens. As I have found the above of great use, perhaps it may be of use to some of your numerous readers and correspondents. I am, Sir, yours, &c. - B. Faucett. Driffield,

Jan. 26. 1833.

Coleopterous Insects taken in 1832, in the Neighbourhood of Manchester. In the month of May I collected the following species on the banks of the river Irwell, at about three miles below Manchester:-Bembídium paludòsum, pállipes; Brádytus fúlvus, apricàrius; Clivina fóssor, collaris; Pátrobus rúfipes, Helòbia Gyllenhàlii, Carabus monìlis; A'gonum marginatum, víduum; Blèmus mìcros; Péryphus decòrus, nitídulus; Stènus bipustulàtus, Dyschírius æneus. June 3d, I collected, in the woods near Chorlton, Helòdes beccabúngæ Curt., Chrysomèla cochleària, Clytus arìetis, Melándrya caraböìdes; Cìonus scrophulàriæ, bipustulatus. June 8th, near the river Irwell, I captured Chrysomèla aúcta and Epaphius secalis.

Bembídium paludòsum, Helòdes beccabúnga, and Chrysomèla cochleària, have been very plentiful. I, last year, took in great plenty Blèmus díscus, but it has not yet, this year, made its appearance; neither has Hóplia pulverulenta, although I took it, last year, in great plenty in the middle of June. On April 29, this year (1832), I took Hýphydrus ovatus and Hydróporus Davísii at Coterill Clough, Cheshire. - W. H. June 18. 1832.

Lepidopterous Insects taken in the Neighbourhood of Manchester last Year (1831). Their names are those of Curtis's Guide. Chara'as gráminis; A'grotis ségetum (vallígera at Southport in Lancashire). Graphíphora brúnnea, festiva, plécta, bàja; common. Orthosia lòta, litùra, hebraica; Glæ'a satellitia, rubricòsa; Tripha'na Janthina, interjécta, fimbria;

Apamea Ethiops, strígilis, rufúncula, latrúncula, Hawórthii; Misèlia aprilìna, oxyacánthæ; Trachea chì, pròtea; common. Acronýcta áceris, sálicis, rùmicis; Pòlia nebulosa, Phlogóphora lucípara, Thyatira Bàtis; Plùsia festùcæ, interrogationis; Hadèna capsíncola, plebèia.

I have taken, this season, Hybérnia leucophæària var. nigricària. On April 29. 1832, I captured Bombýlius màjor in Coterill Clough, Cheshire.-W. H. June 18. 1832.

A Singularity in the Larva of Tenthrèdo amerinæ. - A friend of mine found the larva of Tenthrèdo amerinæ, and upon his touching it for the purpose of disengaging it from the hawthorn branch upon which it rested, we (for I was a witness of the fact) were somewhat surprised to observe a white liquid spirted from its body in thin fountain-like columns. This it repeated at each successive touch; but it became totally exhausted of the fluid after it had ejected it seven or eight times. This liquid was not forced out through any particular aperture, but was ejected through the pores of the body, apparently by a sudden contraction of the skin. This fact resembles what is related of the larva of Cerùra Vínula, and perhaps answers similar purposes. Shaw tells us that the larva of that moth possesses the power of ejecting from its mouth, for a considerable distance, an acrimonious reddish fluid, which it uses as a defence, as it produces an irritating pain if it gets into the eyes of the spectator. The fact I communicate, regarding the insect in question, if it be its general habit, appears to me to have slipped the notice of all entomological writers. - James Fennell. Nov. 1832.

-

METEOROLOGY.-Mildness of the Present Season, at Parkstone, near Poole, Dorsetshire. As a proof of the extreme mildness of the present winter, I may mention that we have, up to this date, seen no snow in our vicinity; and that, saving two or three days' frost, which have not been at all severe, no particular indication of the season has been perceived. The prevalent winds have been from the south and south-west; and there has been abundance of warm rain, frequently preceded by meteors, some of them very extraordinary in their appearance. The birds are beginning to sing cheerily; and the gardens are rapidly putting on the livery of spring. We have had stocks and strawberries in blossom all the winter. This evening I destroyed four toads, who were "barking" under the windows, to some friends at a distance, whose well-known salutation was distinctly heard across the fields. Though this country swarms with toads, and every house and cottage has its pets, which are familiar to the inhabitants, so early an

awakening is most unusual, and deserves to be recorded. — W. B. Clarke. Parkstone, Dorset, Feb. 5. 1833.

We may venture to add, from the private note of our valued correspondent, the following supplementary remark : — "The mildness of this air is most extraordinary. We have the climate of a southern latitude, sheltered by lofty hills, and on the shore of the sea." In the night of December 30. 1832, snow fell, to the depth of an inch, in some places more, in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. On December 31., I passed, on foot, from Bury St. Edmunds to Waterbeach, near Cambridge. The snow was commonly less than an inch in depth, but in some places more; much of it was melted by the close of the same day. The morning had the very aspect of winter. The herbage beside the road was hidden from sight, but countless thousands of the flower and seed stems, surmounted by their heads of seed (of Cynosùrus cristàtus, Phleum praténse minus, &c.; and, on Newmarket Heath, Potèrium Sanguisórba, &c.,) stood erect and lance-like through the snow, and looked pleasing. Blackbirds and thrushes were breakfasting off the haws in the hedges; chaffinches were picking their nauseous dole" from horsedung fallen on the road; partridges were calling to each other in the turnip fields; the rooks, and many small birds, were hovering about stacks of corn, formed and left in the fields; the skylarks, in flocks, were picking portions of herbage, &c., here and there left peeping out, or changing their ground, by flitting from point to point, with soft short calls, through the air; and (and this much pleased me) the snow had fallen off the wheels of a waggon, which had passed before me, and was quite evenly and prettily stratified, in the manner of the coats of an onion, each stratum being well defined, by the yellowness which every layer of snow had, on the side next the ground, derived from the material, or (as the phrase is) "metal," of the road. As, perhaps, more congenial to Mr. Clarke's notices, I may mention that my father, at Waterbeach, had reserved the crop of apples, on one tree, ungathered. The apple is of a good size, hardy, green, and, in nature, crab-like; its name I know not. These apples, in quantity above a bushel, were gathered on January 1. 1833, when they were found unhurt by the very few night frosts that had, in the course of the winter, occurred, and were then, from their nature, very hard and firm. This tree will, veritably, bear two crops in one year. J. D.

159

MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE.

ART. I. Retrospective Criticism.

CORRECTIONS.-In Vol. V. p. 753. line 15. from bottom, for "1800," read "1830."

In Vol. VI. p. 76. line 15. and p. 77. line 1. for "October," read "September."- W. B. C.

On Birds dressing their Feathers with Oil from a Gland. (Vol. V. p. 412. 588.) — Mr. Waterton doubts (Vol. V. p. 413.) if the small nipple on the rump of birds is an oil gland, or that birds ever oil their feathers with matters obtained from it; and he asks if any naturalist will say that he has ever witnessed this process; and, if so, how it is that the bird contrives to take this oil in its bill, and how it manages to oil its head and neck? I beg to state what I think I have witnessed, and trust to Mr. Waterton's forbearance if I am in error: yet I cannot help suspecting that Mr. Waterton's queries are (like those of Charles the Second's to the Royal Society) more for the purpose of laughing at our ignorance, than from any wish he has to obtain information; for I can scarcely suppose that so acute an observer can have failed to perceive every thing perceptible on the point at issue. I have just witnessed a Muscovy duck perform the operation of pruning and dressing its feathers; and it certainly appears obvious enough to me that this bird uses the gland on the rump for the purpose for which birds are generally supposed to use it. The duck erected the feathers on the rump so as to exhibit the gland very distinctly, and then, after pressing it with the bill, rubbed the under mandible and chin, down to the throat, upon it; and then, after drawing some of the feathers through the bill, rubbed the lower mandible and chin upon the back and scapulars, apparently to apply the oil which adhered to them; and then, turning its head back, it rubbed the crown and sides of the head and the neck upon those parts which it had previously rubbed with the chin and under mandible. By this rubbing of the head and neck, it is easy to perceive how birds can oil these parts, if it be allowed that birds oil themselves at all. I cannot see how we can explain this action in birds in

relation to any other object. It certainly does not seem calculated to expel or disturb the vermin that may lodge there; and I remarked that it never occurred except when the bird had been applying its bill to the gland, as above mentioned. However, Mr. Waterton and any one who doubts this oiling may readily judge for themselves. Let them take a common duck, and shut it up for two or three days, so that it can have no access to water, except for the purpose of drinking, and, at the end of that time, let them turn it out, and allow it to go to a brook or pond: it will give itself a thorough ablution, ducking, diving, and splashing with its wings, and, on coming out, will begin to dress and arrange its feathers, very frequently applying its bill to the gland on its rump. If this application is not for the purpose of procuring a supply of oil, perhaps Mr. Waterton will have the goodness to inform us what it is for, and what end this gland answers in the economy of the feathered tribe, if not that which has hitherto been supposed. - T. G. Clitheroe, Lancashire, June 30. 1832.

On Birds using Oil from Glands. (Vol. V. p. 412.) — Sir, I am, as you well know, no ornithologist, although I feel an interest in the discussion (when personalities are excluded) and decision (when good humour is the order of the day both with pros and cons) of any questio vexata [contested question] in any branch of natural history. Perceiving, therefore, that that interesting traveller, Mr. Waterton, has endeavoured, in Vol. V. p. 412., by several apparently conclusive arguments, to disprove the fact of birds using oil obtained from glands for the purpose of lubricating the surface of their plumage, I have thought it worth while to send you a notice of a fact connected with the subject, which I accidentally met with on looking over a torn leaf from one of the volumes of the Linnæan Transactions, during a spare minute*, while waiting for the keys of Sir Joseph Banks's cabinet of insects, collected during Captain Cook's voyages, and now deposited in the Linnæan Society's house, in Soho Square. It will be seen that part of the statement appears to oppose Mr. Waterton's argument.

"Nov. 21. 1820.- Dr. Leach communicated to the meeting of the Linnæan Society an extract from a letter addressed to him by Robert Scarth, Esq., containing some observations on the economy of the Procellària pelágica, or

Dr. Franklin says, "Take care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves;" a truth as applicable to the employment of time as to treasure or talent; the three ts requisite to form a thorough naturalist.