NOTES ON CORRESPONDENCE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2902, 27 October 1909, Page 86

NOTES ON CORRESPONDENCE.

Some , zinknown friend • has sent me a. lecture- delivered by Mr D. L. Poppelwail before ths Gore birls' Litsrary Cub. It is called "Piants of the Discrict," and, when delivered, it was illustratc-d by 130 lantern slides made from original photographs, many ol the «lides being beautitully tinted. Judging by the pamphlet, ths lecture must have been an admirable one, and the _ idea, might be worked out m every district. There is a " but," however. How many districtis pos<teeß an enthusiast such as.Mr Poppelwell must be ? The lecture opens with a quotation from one' of Sir John Lubbock's books to the effect that a slight Tcnowledge o( the botany of a district changes plants and fioweirs from strangers into frieode. Some day 'I hope to make quotations from the lecture, but to-day I mus., be satisfied by quoting a paragraph coining under rhe heading " Romance of Seienoe," and refers to the veronicas. *' WTien our J^ord was carrying His Cross to Calvary, one of the holy women of Jerusalem offered Him a ; napkin on which" to wipe His divine facet. When He returned it, it bore the picture or image rof - Hi« sacred countenance. Th : s image, waa in the old Greek-Eatin Jbntyuage of the- day referred to. as the vera eikon or true image* The woma-a referred to was afterwards canonised under ths name of 'Saint Veronica . . and it is rapposed • that the botanist who named the first veronica (probably V. Buxbuambi), which has a email bltte Sower, recognised its tiny face held aloft to the sky as (he ' vera t eikon ' or trua image of the ethereal' blue, and thus called it alter Saint Veronica." A pretty little story, isn't it? Mr Poppelwell has clcqie the district a great ser-viee by familiarising -its botany, and Mr Beattie has done, and is doing, good work in crystallising iocal history— any lantern slides available- though V But cannot another fltep be taken ? Isn't there a gentleman near Gore wjip knows every rock and fossil for miles around ? &et him to lecture, and to illustrate his lectures with slides. Then other districts can copy Gore's example, and make known their botany, histoiy, ajid geology. What a mass of interesting matter could ba gathered in* this way. " Mafcornako," ssn>ds me a note from which J take the following:— " You ask for special notes, and I sand herewith an instance of a tree shedding ite leaves in the spring. Tha young twigs develop in the leaf axils, axtd t-he young loaves Icok vexy pretty. As soon as the youoig leaves begin to roako a show the o?d leaves <irop off~ makomako (Moki)." Neithea: the "Manual of New Zealand Flora" r,cr "" Plants oT New Zealand " mentions jthis pceulia-rity, but th^ following from " A N«w Zeaiacd Naturalists' Calendar," by 6. il^Thomson, F.I/.5., F.C.S., and M.P., *is one of many insfances showing the value of this happily written and informative voJume : " The fuoh-aias sha.ro tho deciduous habit with only a few otkea- New Zealand tross and ehrubs, end to a partial exteat, tho makomako. The absenos of d«cuduoufl'3aved -trec3 in this inland is an argument asainst any receoi; glacial epoch in these southern regions." This was written before the controversy sprang up between Professors Park and Marshall, and lines up Mr Thomson on the sido of Dr Marshall. Again y Mr Thomson writes : " Another common plant in our bush is th-a »ativo currant or makomako (Ai-istotelia racemosa). .It U usually quite, or nearly, deciduous -in thca part of New Zealand, though eveuzreon in tho North Island at all low levels. The species is interestingfrom tha !>&??&& gr-a^iuation wbioh -ft exhibits in - its flowers betweaa t-hess which ar<s completely heriuapnrodito and others which ara ddcecious," an<T so on. Mr Thomson uses the makoyrcako a$ an ar.Epum-3.nt against i'«oant giacial srjoch. " Plants of New Zealand " saj - 6 : "JThj genus also occurs in South America and Australia. Our soccics, thecoofiie. perhaps indicate a/i Amoricaa connection at some romofe period." Mai-y M'Hardy sends a note upon the L«p!<lutus kirki. which I identified a fortnight ajro. Look a.!?ain, and ese if they <*o not swim, at tim^s, back downwards. Don't call thera kirki, but orustaoea, genus T^&p iduxus. Kir'-o is atMed, I assume, in honour of Mr Kirk, tlie naturalist, who is, however. remßmb»red as a botanist. I thing: that the "i" is sounded long. K'rki is aimplv a latinj^ipd form of Kirk. " Omonaite." Taranaki, sends me come vegetable oat^arpillars. These were described in these columns a year or two ago. but as my circle of readers is enlaTgiirig. aaid. as many are teachers or puuils of the upp^r staridurds, I'll give a note a.'Sfain. The followinar is tai-Jn from " Xate're in New Z^saand " : " Some dafficulry has bcon experienced in deciding whether thn vfi?etabl<? caterpillars ousht to hs olassad with thj inp?otfi or Dl-anls. It is a cat«rpillar at cie time and a funrus at another tima. Wli^n in the ca-f^ pillar stigo. it ewes down into tte eQiTth with +he intention of renninz into a ohrvea'js. Tbs?! 1 * a furvrus takes pesrafsion of it. fills its borly in »w.ry part, from the head to the claw«. wifih v^wtabl? matter, a.nd th<^ inecot. thouvh rr o in*aininflr its ~oriffia.-il shape, is row a plant. When the fuu.-nis h-j« c->T;,Dlet^d it« task of eatiricr ud tin? caterp'Tla-'*. it a Ftallc up out of th,; jrround. On this there are snore »-<! tl»3 pfrcu"d. the fungus looks like ft smaJl hu'rush. 1+ is found in tho bush, •^••acially in nlaoa." n-here dead vegetation if ooattTed pround." For the soieptifi/' r«d'°r, however. tt^«v» ;s; s r^quit-'d. Hu^on, m his beputifulir illu^h-pied and rpj-v fin« \v>lniTD>2. "New7>aland Math's a^xi Butt-erfli<«." sivs: "TV* «M**li?r' ' ve?t?-t>ibl' 0 cn*-°rpi'<llar ' /ipif.»«f«*d with .th«? «rvH:©'i* funprui rc;r>rdic,ej>c r-->bo«-t<!iil is. I t*"'nk. veiry r-^^^blr th-p l^rwa of thi« in?°ct. [Poriiva mairi — one of the v al. It vfos fornv*rly sup r»o=<» ' to he th<» lflrva of B^traJas v:r/>pof>ns # but I haf<» ronjtcd otit elsewhere ["E-ntv-molc^ist," XVITI, ?6] tHt this is cer^ainlv «*rroTK?ous, the larva of H virescens living in ••he <4«it)3 of frees ar-^ never ffoinir K»•p/»alh the prround. even to pupate, whilst the '• %-«f »Übte " btrva is subterranean. T'io Teal point lc J>? discovered 'is the precis FDecifs of Lopidopteta this caterpillar would develop info, if not attacked by thfe fungus ; but at orosent no dofinitc infonnatHMi Hn« \vsen obtained on the swbjeci." DonaW Mac«To»aW, -mho w«it<v9 "Nature Notea" in the Mefbourn-j Anrus, adopts the view that it is the larva of "the H. viresoens, and in a note npon this subject iwWisd|ied sobm months ago He wrot* of a Victorian eoecimen *2nt h^nt — "How did it s;et from New Zealand h*r& <o>r vi<v versa? Surely it must have bc*n when there was a land connection, perhaps not long ago geolegi-

| oally speaking," and the note is added < t— "Mr M 'Alpine, vegetable pathologist to the Agricultural Department, is anxious to . obtain living specimens of this caterpillar with the objecr of studying its life history. ' We in New Zealand want to study it tor. " J." (Rimu) one time sent- me two, but, presumably tbTOugh some carekesness on my part, they went wrong; but perhaps this rather extended notios of fchis interesting object will raisz up am army of hunters who will among them discover specimens of this caterpillar and bring them successfully through the succeeding stages. And now for what I suppose is what, ut present, must be regarded as the last word upon this mystery. One of our leading entomologiste is Mr Alfred Philpott, aad he, in 1903, sent to the South London . Entomological and Natural History Society a short paper on the vegetable on this caterpillar, the paper afterwards appearing ■' in the Entomologist. From it I tafce fcno l following:— "lt is" unfortunate that but ' little is known of the caterpillar and its parasitic fo3, and still more unfortunate that several errors have cuspt into the little we- know of its life history. In almost every aocount of this' curious abnormality it is that the insect is extremely rare, that it is fotinil only 'under the rata ' tree (Metrcsideros), and that the caterpillar I is the larvae stage of the handsome green-and-whit© moth .(Hepialus virescens). throe statements are aH contrary to' fact. The caterpillar lias bean found practically throughout Xew Zealand ; in some caese . . . in large numbers. . . Witn r«gard to tlie larva's invariable association with Mebrosidercs, this is so- far from being the cas© that" in several districts Wihere the larvae has bean commonly met with the rata tree is unknown. . . Mr Hudson «ugg«>3ts Porina mairi in place of H. vireaoecs, but the extreme rarity of this moth renders it improbable. The typa of P.- niaire wa6 discovered by Sir Walter . Buller 39 y-ears ago, and I do not think that a second example has yet been brought to light. It is, I think, more probable that Porina dinod-ss will turn out to be the correct species. No other moth in this district (Southland) is large enough to warrant the assumption that its larva may bs the host of the fung-ce. When full-grown v the iarra ! of dirxxks is nearly 4in. long, arxl inhabits a tunnel driven in rather obliquely to a depth of 15in to 20in. A c«rn,jxiriscn of fungus-attacked larva with living larvce of P. dinodes found within a few yards of each other shows that the two are very similar, if not identical. It is, of course, possibJo, as Mr, Hudson 6uggesbs in a tetter to me, that more than cae speodes is attacked, and that the sain« species may nGt be selected in the Nozth Island as in th-3 south." I have answered '" Omor.aiia rather fully, because the information will be of value to Nature stud«nt6 g-ssi-sraJly. • I might add That the- type P roairs discovered by Sir Walter tfuller was lost m the wreck of the Assayc in 1890. Why dd Sir Walter naste it ••maire"? Was it d:e- • covered und°-r rli-3 foreet tree the Mairi (Maori), the Olea CiKUjingiiamii? I am always glad to hear Jrom " Student. ' His reference to feme reminds me that twice I have promised a note on ferue. . My columns, unfortunately are not elastic, and pretty well every Week I have to *' shut down" aaid leave out a great deal, i I must thank " E:ft.S." for his note on . rabbits, which, he szys, were regarded &a I " a priceless luxury " 46 years ago. I ami i holding tho note over_just now, for I ! -<ant to muke more than a paragraph: of • it. What is the Acclimatisation Socrety s • record concerning rabbits? Was any re- ' fere'noo made in the newspapers to tfc-air • liberation? I have even heard ,that the day., was proclaimed a holiday ! It will be just as well to have these details crystallised in two or three paragraphs. I hay-? just read the "".Life of Frank Bucklsnd.'' which is now published 'in that delightful fy3ries, Nel3on'3 Shilling Net Copyrights. In it reference is made to sending rabbits to N<?w Zealand. "• Verefcia Corona " sends an ' interesting note, and goes to more trouble than many corresponcents dc to d-esenbe what she wants information upon. As I hnve oecu- • pied so much space in describing the vegetable caterpillar I must maka a brief reply to "' Yenstia,," but as she has gone to so t much troub!». gives me a nice litrlo n-it on the ba-ck, and as lwr speci^non is an interesting one not previously d-e«eribe<l ar length in tSsse pages. I'll give it a more extended noHee next week. It is, f think, a mayfly. sms no true mouth, liws en air. and is a frivolous body iriven to aeiial fiances durinpr its short pxistoiic*. Perhaps the specimen described bad had if s nuptial dance and flight, had rlepc~ ; N»d iis eyes, and was making it.-, exit from lit* o. " G,"» Hamilton South, some iinic aro sent me some boulder clay tak*>n from l.'i» centre of a lavaer pieci ; ar.'] last v>e-->L '" Interested " ssnt me a note upon the T>tan Rocks on a <!pur of the Gnrd^n Ranee. Upon those Dr Mnrshall. Prrfep«<~.r I of Geo'ogy in the Otago University, kindly gives in-s <he following note: — " Th<» specimen of clay thai you sent mo from the . gravel is probably a decomposed boulder of rock of a le«s r?f=istanf nature than tho , quartz boulders. The " kerne!" of cl.iv ' would then renresent pji inner portion of th<i bculd.T that was less affctred ihaix i th" cuts' ih portions by j .\\p woath^ring action. I know nothing- about the '" Titan vncks"' rtf Waikaia. Tt is unlikely that th. 3v3 v d"vi.«e their name from titanium since mineral* wit'i this metal in combir.ntion occur leather snaringrly mired with others It is impossible to wv whether thpv aro 1 erratic? without v-isitinir t'rp locality. I i think I am r>srht in savin? ihrt th--»v hav«> never been described as such." Perhaps ' some reader can j^ive a more detailed ac- | count of tho rocks. I am sorry that I am not ari\ inp- nnoiv* : attention 1 to tho mottorolieical records. »nd : T urn always hoping to better. TJio j WairGe Soath records for last month ;<ava , not come to hand — presumably th-a fire dis- ; organised school work. Alick sent ir.s four J fine lizards, and these w^re har<i?d ovor 1 to a. teaoh«r who gave them and "Animals of New Zealand ' to fame of his pupils that the ' specimens might bo identified for ■ A lick. Tbi smaller on<=s are. I think, the | short-toed lizard fDaotvlocn^mis macuJa^s). ' about ths habits of whicih notSiiingr is known : ami <3ie larger ones— one is 12in Jong and the book srivs th« length as I Sin or 9in — th& rock liza-rd CLypoaatna I drandeh If I had epace 1 should srive an : account of how lizards hunt their prey, but, thsfc terrible want of soace blocks me. Alick. however, mkrht catch some flies and imprison t-hem with some lizarc« in such a way that the movemerrta of the lizards mijtht be noted. Try, and l«t me know ( resuHs.

" Old Gus's," " Verbena and Zinnias's," and "Rambler's" letters will bs attended to next week, though I may say that " OM Girl " heard the cuckoo at bt. Leonards oiv September 14.

CORRESPOXDEXCE.

Sutton, October 6.* Dear " Magister," — ~V?e were very pleased to get your information concerning the kirki, and since we received your description ■we have made a- closer examination of theta. We find that they swim forward with their bodies in different positions. Someumes they are on their sides, and they use their ■tails as a rudds* when they want to go in a different direction. The swamps in which they live dry up in summer; thus showing that the egg-s must lie embedded in the mi:d until the dry season is over, and then they come to life or hatch. The colour r/f the appendages on the abdomen and the pair oi long filaaieivts on tne last segment of the abdomen is red or brown. The shield^, alsoi vary in colout. Some of them are of a speckled grey, and others are brown or a Prussian blue. W* are * little perplexed to know if " kirki" is the singular or plural form of the word, and another thing we , shoTild be very p?eaf-ed to knew is abaut the pronunciation o{ kirki. Is it a short or a long "i" ? I am very sorry to inform yon that I do not know if they are found anywhere else but Central Otago or noi. We had a look at these creatures to -see if ths colour had anything to do with the sex, but found eggs on creatures of different colours. — J remain, yours truly, Mart M'Ha»dy. I • Omona, Taranaki, October -4. ' Dear " Magister." — I have forwarded you under separate cover several grubs, with, a pant-like growth frcm the head, which I dug up a few nays ego. They wer« found in hilly bush country which has been down in grass about four years. They were found directly under the limbs of a niaire tree which had not baen felled, and were from 2in to 6in under the surface of tb£ ground, mostly in a perpendicular position, with tfcfe plani-like growth reaching to the surface I wculd. like very much if you could give me atiy information about them, and if it is known what plant «r tree grew* from them. — Yours sincre.y. Ohonaite. October" 7. Dea-r " Magister,"— l find that " Jack Sparrow" has ,tsksn quite a fanoy to my apple buds. Peas and primrbsss have always noeded protection by lines of cotton, and gooseberry and currant bushes by entanglements of same, but apples were quite secure. Tha buds are nipped across just before opening the stemens being exposed. Have others noticed this trait? His taste is not bad, for the apple buds have the flavour of rose pe'.als. The hemkek (conintn) is evidently increasing round Dunedin, fcr besides finding it in a wild state I have geen it in several gardens. lis graceful fronds are often mistaken for ferns, and this causes it to be transplanted. It is 'an extremely poisonous plant, aud "has a caasical history, for Ircm its juices was prepared the poison by which Socrato3 wes mur(l«red. The stems are red spotted and tihe foliage much cut. Wheai in the Botanical Gardens I noticed thai the, plant DianeHa (scmthing like a flax) had its leaves noiched in. a similar roan-ncr to .the flax bush and cabbage tree. Hn* the stnictar3 of the leaf not something io do with the chape cf the cut? Would the same shape of notch result if the leaf were feather veined ? lately on the tills overleoking North Taien a fine specimen of Melicyius lancecJ^'" 3 - iiXS lan ceolate hina-bina.) was found. Tiiie is not a common plant about Dun-edin, being scan only in gardens. CLeasaman dose not describe the colour of the petals, which in this ccse were yellow, edged purple. The Hewers -were not dioecioua but two sexual. While rambling in Mullocky Gully I came across - a dusty-looking fern, which proved to be a Cheilanthes On comcaring it with Cheiljyathes gieberi. I ncted" some diiTeren.^e^. The specimen icnrxft wes wider, and although not in spore, it bore the app^srx*»ee cf C. ten,nifolia. as shown in Field's •• Bcsok of INTsw Zealand Fern,?." C. teanifolia is. however, not fcind nearer than the mcuntab-.s about Queenstown. The pinn® ware pscend-irj? and a'ternate in some case*. ropo?ite in others. However, a? the form of the fiord was nearer ob'ong tha.a deltoid, which is a disiingnishirig feature of C teriuifolia. I fancy the fern tnusi be one' c.f thof* intermediate forms so nuzzling to t/ie student. Studeot. Eangiriri, Christchurch road, Knmara, Scptamber 23. I>ear • Mzgi'ter." — I am sending jou a description of a " bcusf found by ore of tk.3 bwys at my frhocl, and shr..ll b? very ihaskful indeed if you could name it fcr )r.p, and tell me anything about its habi.a cr us food. It was found on top of the qi-3.=3 on a very h-i day, and, nlthcufrh a'ive. r.s couid be lein ouly by an rccisions! inovpl >rei't cf its fee'ers (should I .- a y aute "-) it was apparently in the same cordmon a^ «t)]C3i? when stupificd hv i»a o.! flies The ->;£e.cli i? drawn exactly of the sime size «3« 3 tne insert. Its feelers* have 10 ioii:'.s t--.ch, arid the nicst peeu'ipr feature al^iu it is its long tru^k. vrlise'i ha= tka two eves, Mtuated neir the ba=e of H. and tL<> iJ.\-5 (opsaicg sideways) between the feeler-. Ihere is r, fringe cf fine hairs on the ur.<?er side of the trunk which point ay.ay f re in ih^ feelers. The back is hard and homy, cod spotied with a dnli yellow like yellow" ochre. It is provided with two spocn-s baped appendages at the cud cf the bedy, n^uch liku trose of the dragon fly, from which I corc.iide that it is a male specimen. 3y the way, are those spoons which I have jusi described used for the ga.«n« purpose a* en tbe^ dragon fly and on tte stick insects? IS T ow for a few note*. The^ sbi<:ing cuckoo iraa heard here first en September 22. The long-tai'ed cu-ckoo Ims net" been heard y e , . this year, thousrh last year it wa* beard on September 26. Tomtits are very scarce here, but black and pied fantaih are liarp in hundreds, a.rd I have often ncticsd a bacKb acK and a «led fautail together apparert'v enjoying a bird coartshi D Xew Zealand thrushes are fairly p'entifni. but they ieco to vfco tops of the hil's in summer, and came down to the Tpramakau River baach in yrmter. Kea-a and k-wls are common, chiefly the b:g srrey kiwi— about the fiz3 of a turkey. The first thrush^ t %% was found j-eeterday. The birds are all la"<e this year • last yecur many were laying in the beginning of September. Last summer was a very cry o: » e — all the pools., which were swarming with tadpoles, were dried no. and the tadpoles, too; result, hardly a- frog to be heard this spring. One of your eorrespDr.denis remarked tb-at frogs sun themselves here and they don't in Australia. Australia has more heat from the eun. and its waters will be warmer than New Zealand waters. Perhaps that may be the reason for their not requiring to sun themselves jui Australia Perhaps some correspondent could tell he whether they do so in the north cA Auckland, where tbe climate would be more lik« that of Australia tiian the southern climate tm. Three years *%o mistletoe and rcia were

blooming in May on the South road, n v *r "Weta.ro&. September 3d The first riroriro's nest found to-day wilh two eggs in it. A boy who was away fraoi schoc-1 the day the insect was found s*rs iha't they are plentiful here, though it is tixo first any of the rest of us have seen. I must tell you now what a help yovr column has been to me in my school wor!t, ' and, I balieve. to a, great many others also. It is the most helpful column I have seen in any pager. — Yours respectfully, Venetia Ceosa. Dear " Ma-gister," — Some months ago, when the discussion regarding glaciation of Central Otago cropped up, I addressed a letter to the editor of the Times with reference to the Titan Rocks, several large isolated rocks on a spur of the G-arvey Hapge overlooking the valley of bhe Waikeia Rivei, soraa distance above the old-time Switzers — a name, by the way, apparently revived. Th«=e rocks are conspicuous objects for manymiles in different directions. My object was to ascertain if Professor Park, 'or any cf the other disputants, knew these rocks, and whether they are " eratics/' And as to their name, are they supposed to contain the mineral titan or titanium, or was i.fe& nanie given to them from their size? We know that &om« peop!e whose classics are somewhat deficient or rusty sre apt to confound Ibe Titans with the Giants. s Tney stand at rh elevation of 4000ftj and are imposing in j their magnitude. I hnve visited them, but tbe weather that developed as we attained tbeir altitude was so dreadful — a how'ing gale, with sleet and snew — that we wore competed for very saaety to coice dowa again. That wa* all but 40 years a??, and I have never e«en theni since. If scmeoue, through youi colurons, could answer mi question.a, and state, even approximately, the height of these immense recks, I- would feel vary much obliged. — I am. etc., Interested; ** Gladbroob, October 2. Dear " Mcgister, 1 .' — Th« rainfall for September was 103 points. Bain fell on eight days, and tbe maximum rainfall was 31 on the 2?th. The nsex. tetapara-turs was" 61.13, and the average mm. temperavure was 54.23. The max. temperature was 74deg on the ISih and 29 vh, and tbe mm. temperature 2?jeg on the 3rd. I am sending you seme 'lizcrds. erd I h&pe that they will reach ycu safely. I would also like to know their names. — Yours faithfully. AiEx. D. MvKinjjokt. Croydcn, October 4. Dear " Magister." — I eaclos-s the weather observations foi the monih. — Yours faithfully, Belle Biogar. Avsrage niaxfmum teiiperafajre, 5t.8; maximum temperature. 69c! eg on the 27th ; average minimnm tenip-eralure, 39.2; miniruuui temperature, 26c?eg on 2nd. To-taJ rainfall, l.'lin ; highest rainfall, 63 points on 2Oih. Rain fell on 10 days. The h : ghest buro-iK'a-1-er pressure was 30.3 in on the 15th, and the lowest was 25.5 on Ist. Ranfurly, October 2. Dear "Maerister." — The following are the meteorological recazds for the month of Sepj tember: — I Maxitniißi .lempertture ii> screen, 70deg on j the SOth ; minimum temperature in screen, j 2Oaeg on tte 2na; minimum temperature en tbe - ground, 33deg on tiie '2nd; average maximum in roreen,' 56.1Sdeg; average min:--nium in screen. 32,lSJeg; average minimum on the ground, 26.06deg. RainfoJl, 76in on eight days ; maximum, .30in ou the 19th ; rainfall sfnoo January to date, 13.44 in on '€8 days. Froets occurred on 15 nights in the screen and 22 on tbe ground. Prevailing wind, S.W.— Ycurs truly, A. W. Roberts. Momona, October 4. Dear " Mcgisrter." — I have to apologise for de-laying so long in ■ackuowledging 'the information oourteoun'y suoplfed by OrniIholcgisc"' in re^-ard "to the -bird mentiched in my last letter, and which, from his description, and froai inforraatic'n supplied me iv a letter from my brother a few even-, irgs t%o, I am now convinced was tko Bliining cuckoc*. Obviously I wa3 et fault in describirg the protjertionq of the bird, which, so far from bsing eoual to these of ft thrubh are in rea'ity only half tboee of that bird, but as 1 saw the cuckoo on only two cccßsfojis, and each Ijme at sonis little distance, ii rsa easy, as "Ornithologist" to make a miftake. I should like to confess here that mv knowledge of natural history is ext'-erooly limit-ad, but I bavfi a dec -i love fcr bads, and Setter myfelf that I am koI vet too old to derive pleasure and nro?t frcm cb=srvinsr t>« habitn. of our lev he-ed !cic-d=. With respect to the fiickco. ha« it c-er be^n discovered by " Ora'thologist" v'iv thj« bird does not rear ''" o" your-g/ More <han 150 ye?-a ago a I Ficjch a"?.ton>'<=t i amed Monsieur Horissant I d'_v ared that t^e reason 2a^- in tha internal stni^ur? cf their Darts "which, he con-e.-.dee! irfa-antr.tfd them for the dni-es of ri.-.bfciio-i lut this fb»arv «a<! exok-^ed by (^l'h-Tt Wlnto. (me( m e author of the " Natura- 1 H;<=tc.j o' C~ Iviiriip " '\ho exnerim-s-rtfid wuli <tie'- b re!-, v.o ! ! kn^wn to practice iiirubatir.i a'>d in ;r.^ Ihit th°v w&re the 'apio with t- s -, flc < TD formation, ni thp cv k- a For tre o.«=t fe-.v w«ek? we- V-av« h<«.d ono o. i-.vo Tv-iv of b-»;id?d dotterels in tbe Po (I- I'f-re. Tljcv \-;^il ««; rp:ni}?'-!v in t'is »nr.n- 0/ -car'i m?, t Wi t h I^wt wisheo for ow»,r,'v of "Our Public Schools Coiumn* — Ycurs Hugh Wil<?ox Spp.ott.