NATURE NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 19805, 8 February 1936, Page 16 (Supplement)

NATURE NOTES.

THE JELLYFISH. The Jellyfish are Just like lumps lellv set firm. On a rougn day you *® them everywhere, washed up tm 'he shore, and sometimes when you sump oj™' 1 thev sting you. unless, of course, they arc dead. They ore very slimy to pick up. j-Lorna Swann (tl). THE LOVELY WIHDELOWEH. of T the “most"' e' , fr r ec‘(wi n jp^'nawerlna SMC M the garden gay. the colours varj r 0”? white, rose, crimson, lilac and blue to dark purple. Some or the V erv single, others double, but all make a >ery beautiful show In a garden where there are few other flowers. ...... —Esther McGrail (13). THE FERRET. The Terret Is mostly used by rabblter* to hunt rabbits out or their A net Is set at the mouth or the burrow to snare the rabbit when it coihes koltlne out with the Terret close behind. VVhen horn the voung ones are only an Inch and Thair long ami are hairless. The Terret was imported several years ago to rid us of the beautiful brown rabbit that ate Dad’s peas, cabbages and radishes and scratched up Mum’s prize flowers. —Harold Anderson (13).

CROWS. Everr many country folic do not quit* understand the difference In the crow family. They Invariably call rooks “crows,** . although there Is such a difference. CrOwa Y are carrion feeders—the carrion crow and the hooded crow—that la. they reed on the carcases of animals such as rats, hedgehog!, rabbits and others besides.— * iCopied.) —Harold OPEN COUNTRY ORCHIDS. The bright yellow orchid, which bloom* in the open country, has three or more flowers a third or an Inch long, in one head. The mauve orchid has two to live flowers in a head. Each flower has five to six petals.— (Copied.) —Joan McMillan (IS). THK SKYLARK. The skylark's neat la well concealed os the ground. It is made or grass and bents., loosely put together, and lined with flneri grasses and sometimes hair. The aky-7 lark lays from four to six eggs, almost onej Inch long. They are greyish-green orj brownish-white, mottled thickly with olivd brown and grey. —Alice Harris (13) ; ASKS OF ANIMALS. This table sets out the ages to which certain animals often live:— Rabbit 5 years; sheep. 12: cat. 43: dog. 15: goat. 13; cow. 25; pig. 25: horse. *?; camel. 40: lion. 40; elephant. 100; crocodile. 300; tortoise. 350; whale, 500. The tortoise, therefore, is the longest living land animal. Some ''bales that have been caught are believed |fo have lived nearly tooo years—(Copied.) —Joan Plummer (15). THE POKOTKA. The pokotea. one of our native birds, !i !as big as a sparrow. It has a whitish I head and breast, with underparts of brown-Ish-whlte, black tall and wings or brown, and the bill and feet black. Tbls vary noisy and merry little bird is found only In the North Island. They build their nests In manuka or tauhtnu. where there are plenty or beetles, spider* and caterpillars. [The whitehead, as It is sometimes called, ilays three or four eggs varying In colout , from pure white to rose pink with brown I specks. —Grace Johnson (12). THE QORILLA. There are over two dozen species of mon« keys. ape*, baboons and lemurs, and the gorilla is the largest and strongest of all. V They are at least six reet high and weigh J a great deal more than a man. but they climb and swing from tree* with ease. Their legs are short and sturdy, but their arms art- so long that on the ground thev serve as crutches. They are peaceful giants, only roused to wrath If their homes are Invaded. They are entirely confined to the dim forest lands of Equatorial Africa, and when civilisation reaches there they will become extinct.— (Copied.) —Joan Plummer (15),