CORRSPONDENCE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2856, 9 December 1908, Page 86

CORRSPONDENCE.

" Thorpe Talbot " will have received before this two consignments of wetas. The smallest was sent in by " Nevada," and was unearthed by him up Roslyn way when digging in his garden, and, remembering that '• Thorpe Talbot " wanted one, he kin-dly forwarded it to me for him. " Mi-ddlernarch " and " J," Otokia, also sent two or three. " J's" were very good specimens — one a male, and the other, the one so distinguishable by her long ovipositor, a female. A correspondent. I forget whom,' sent in a foxglove. Mr Thomson Bays it is & common malformation, " a number of the upper flowers on the raceme being amalgamated." It is difficult at times to aocoun* 1 for these abortions. " Penax " kindly sent me some orchids, and a note he sent afterwards is given among correspondence published in full. £ N hope that his interesting description will cause some boys and girls to hunt for orchids and attempt their cultivation. Who has had experience in rearing tui» in captivity? Perhaps some one caai oblige my West Coast correspondent. " J's " humble bees have been sent U Dr Benham, from whom I may get i note. , The moth sent in two or three days ag« I have not identified yet, but shall -do so, all being well, before next - Thursday. Kawarau's beetles and grub I h*ve sen! to Dr Benham, from whom I hope to get a little information. It must be remembered, however, that many have nardly been noticed, let alone thoroughly, examined. / , , " E A 's " letters are noted, and one will be passed on to Dr Marshall^but as he is in Nelson assisting in the survey now being made of the Dominion, it may be two or three weeks before I can get a reply. Te Kokanga, Glenham, Southland Dear " M*gister,"— l am forwarding you addressed envelopes as requested. . . iLast week I found a teal's nest and * hawks neat in tie same creek, and the character of each bird is easily deputed ** *n«* i respective structures. The former, -which 1 contains six eggs, is built in tbe heart of * Bee and can be entered only 1 from below by the bird crawling through a narrow passage up the seg, the foliage of which « not disturbed. She sticks to her nest faithfully, and will not xiee When I part the f rassea to have a look at her. The hafcks nest was built flatly, openly, and roughly among the swampy fiegs. When I found it tto bird was seated boldly on four eggs (not • much bigger than a bantam's), but 1 oniy stared at her for a few seconds, when tn« coward flew off, screeching enough to fsignten, anyone who was timid (need to be more timid than I>. Next time I passed the nest she was not on, no jio hawks being near A felt the eggs, which were warm. Sorely disappointed, in the same afternoon I found three eggs sucked, and she was coming bacfc for the last one. I have it, however, as * specimen and would exchange it for any saa bird's egg, if any correspondent is willing. I would also like a frog or some spawn, as there are no frogs here.— l am, eg^^ [The portion of " Eubina's" letter dealing with the moth I am holding over 4>ending receipt of the moth asked for in * P™*£ note. The leaf enclosed belongs te Clematis Lxaaephala, so Mr G. M. Thomson say* and refers' me to Cheesaman a book, but X have lent it just now for ; * day <jr two. X am glad that " Rubina," "F*ntail, and " E A " hay« commenced a correspondence. ' needn't wish she were a boy. A friend once pointed out to me a most ladylike looking girl fond of outdoor hfe, and when she got out into unfrequented parts , no boy' could "shin" up a tree after bird* eggs faster than she could.] ; Dunedin, November 20. | Dear " Magister,"— l am forwarding you 1 a moth which I caught obe evening. I dpj know whether it is a rare one or not, Trat the colour of it attracted my attention. As you will see, if it reaches' you safely, rt i» a pa!e, glossy green. Some one of your correspondents who collect such things mi<*ht like to add it to their collection. There is a large fly seen about sometimes, which used to be known to us boys a* * horse-stinger. Whether it stings horses or not I don't know, but one day when P«f«ng a water hole near Wingatui, in which ther« are a number of frogß, I caw a frog hopping about with one of those flies on its back. , I did not see the finish of the argument, but I thought that the best thmg the frog could 1 do was ; to hop into the water. I have seen several b'ttern about lately at Goodwood. TitrT and Green Wand. One day this week j I saw a solitary quail near Shag Point A I few years ago they used to be pretty numerous about Purakanui and Seackff, but I have not seen any about there for yearr. A few weeks ago some of your correspondents were writing about the mistletoe. There is a 3ot of it growing on the edge of the bush. near Puketeraki. What can be seen from the train when passing seems to grow on the one kind of tree — a scrubby tree about 6ft or 7ft high. I enjoy -the reading of your column very much, and hope -these few notea will interest some of your readers — I am. etc., P. [Who will supply a note on the "horsestnnger"? If no one will, I shall give on« myself in a week or two. I must mind spiders and boree-stingers are booked. Jog my memory if I forget. — JfAGiSTMt.] Dsar " Magister," — By this time yon will have received the little orchids. The greenflowered one is Pterostylis Australia, a most' interesting variety. On looking into the flower you will notice a tongue something! like a bird's. Touch this tongue with a needle or a. pencil point and note Hs sensitiveneaff. When a. yioth happens along it alights on. tins labeurn. which at once springs up and imprisons the insect. The flower is closed thus for about one hour, when the tongas ig again relaxed. The insect, however, is

inside, and, like the historical startling, desires to "get out." It crawls up the column, guided by two projecting memT>rAnons shields. Passing over the rostellum, the insect's body is smeared with a sticky matter, and then pushing post the pollina, carrying a portion away on its body, and so out through the entrance (that's Irish, 'but never mind). The obliging creature then visits the next door flower, jumps on •the tongue, is imprisoned again, and in crawling up this column fertilises the adhesive stigma-; then, on its way out to the open, air appropriates some more of the pollen masses, and so on. Anyone wishing for a fuller explanation will find the genus figured in Mr Thomson's " Class Book on. Botany," page 96, and in Darwin's " Fertilisation of Orchids," chapter iii. Let those interested roam over almost any hill around Dunedin and they will doubtless be rewarded; the plants are now in bloom. If anyone would particularly like a few plants I might be able to supply them ; but for the sake of the added interest in one's own finds, I would prefer that the readers of the column sougiit and found. The second form enclosed is Corysanthes xotuadifolia. We yonngs>ters always called them- silver spoons, from the silvery underside of the only leaf ' the plant possesses. " Silver spoon" sounds better than the botanical name — these ■ names are too much Jike . what the doctor writes in prescription, book! But to get baqk to the orchid. Search the shady bank* of swamps a&d creeks and damp places in the bush, and doubtless- you will find* whole colonies (or " dominions") of these little plants in bloom — and what <a peculiar flower it is: the body, shaped like a helmet and coloured ■reddish purple, making, with the four long petals and sepals, a tolerable imitation of «, four-legged spider. For full particulars look up Cheeseman's " New Zealand Flora." I can supply any quantity 01 this last-named kind, but as some of the plants may be only seedlings, I cannot guarantee that they will flower .next season.

. I am but ■ » beginner. Please don' t Hake wi»*t I say bs gospel — I try to be correct. If I've- made any mis-statements, it's *' ignorance, pure ignorance." — I am, etc., s Panax.

Otarau P. 0., via Blackball. Nov. 12.

Dear " Magister," — I wish to write to you about three young tuis I have. I would be very pleased if you would tell me what the mother tui faeds her young opes on. At present I feed them, oil sop, with plenty of. sugar, also moths, flies (daddy long-legs, mosquitoes, and sandflies)., and any tiny beetles I can get. I give them a few — very few, though — worms now and again to vary their- food a little. ,1 have had them over * week, nnd they are feathering very quickly. They e*t a lot, and seem healthy and strong enough, but two of them seem to have very little strength in their legs. Do you think that is because' I have kept them too much in their nest, and not let them on to the perch, enough? I know they are veTy hard to Tear, aa they are very subject to fits. I give them plenty of fresh air. Will ycu please tell me if that is the right food which I am giving them? Mother used to h»Ve one that talked* and whistled lovely. Hoping you will be able to help me, — I am, •tc, Tot.