Page:Hardwicke's Science-Gossip - Volume 1.pdf/197

the pharynx and œsophagus. There is no doubt that worms do an immense deal of good by their feeding on the earth; and as to their biting the roots of plants and shrubs, as is sometimes said of them—why, it is all nonsense. They could not do it, if they wished, as they have no teeth; they are quite satisfied with the earth, and if it is freshly manured, they like it all the better. It is this last fact which brings them round the roots of trees, and has made some people suppose that they come to bite them; whereas they really come after the accompanying manure.E. Ray Lankester.

A correspondent from Coniston gives a curious account of the effects produced on the birds by the very severe cold, and long continuance of snow on the hard frozen surface of the ground in January and February, 1865. Four species of Titmouse (Parus) were familiar visitors, and greedy after any sort of kitchen refuse. That well-known and now deeply regretted benevolent observer and naturalist, Sir John Richardson, erected, at Lancrigg, a strong pole with a crossbar, to one end of which he tied a basket filled with crumbs of bread and such like dainties, for the refection of hungry Linnets, Robins, Chaffinches, and a miscellaneous company of visitors to the welcome feast; at the other end of the crossbar was a net-bag, containing lumps of fat, which proved particularly attractive to the Titmouse family (Parus). The beautiful blue Tit, whose lively manners have been so well described by White, and which, whatever may be said of him, is really a great friend to gardeners, by destroying quantities of insects, is rather numerous in Westmoreland, and must be dear to all lovers of roses for its active assistance in waging war against the Bracken Clocks, a sort of minute beetle (Chrysomela) with shining metallic wing-cases, which seem to descend in clouds from the neighbouring heath-and-fern-covered mountains as soon as the roses begin to open; and bright and beautiful to the eye as is this glittering shower of sparks of emeralds, rubies, and diamonds that "dazzle as they pass" through the sunshine, we soon lose all admiration for the false and fair visitants, who ruthlessly bury themselves among the petals of the roses, and mutilate and devour the choicest blooms in the most aggravating way. So, if the Tomtits help us a little to keep down these pests in the summer, they well deserve their regale of fat to help them through the season when no insect larvæ can be found.

But during that very severe weather, not only tribes of small birds, but even the very Rooks came to be fed, and enjoyed picking bones, especially a bone from a sirloin of beef (which had been previously boiled for soup for the poor)—the smaller bones the Rooks flew away with the enjoy in their own selfish corners, like "little Jack Horner," without allowing a taste to a hungry brother—peevish, quarrelsome among themselves, yet how is it that such regular discipline can be maintained as to keep a sentinel ever strictly on the watch to give signals of any approaching danger? Is the sentinel some grave old patriarch of the flock, who shows his chieftainship by watching over the safety of his tribes; or is he some unlucky junior, who dares but obey his elders, and remain patiently at his post of observation, even if it excludes him from his share in the feast?

Another strange pensioner was a Water-hen (Gallinula), starved out from her accustomed reedy haunts on the edges of Coniston Lake; she came in haste to partake of any fragments of food within reach, and then as hastily departed to her hiding-place. Being heavy on the wing, but a swift runner-away, she scudded over the snow, with her large yellow feet acting like the Laplander's snowshoes.

I once had the opportunity of watching a pair of these birds in the fenny districts of Buckinghamshire, in an old orchard filled with grotesque old trees, thickly coated with grey lichens, and yet very productive of good apples and enormously large stewing pears; there was in one corner a dark pond, the remains of part of an ancient moat, fringed and almost hidden by sedges and brambles. By the edge of this, and fastened to an overhanging branch, the Gallinules built their cradle-nest of sticks. The female sat very closely under cover of the shrubs, but by stealing gently round behind the bushes, I every day threw near her the crumbs and scraps from the children's dinner, which were always eaten, and by-and-by I had the pleasure of seeing a flock of six or eight such beautiful silky little black balls darting and squirting about in the most lively and restless manner, caring little for the shelter of the mother's wing. But in a day or two the whole family had disappeared. The Ouse was out, a very common occurrence with that sluggish, lazy river, and probably the pretty Gallinules had adjourned to the wide swampy fishing-grounds to seek their living in company with the lordly crested grey Heron, who would stand there for hours, with meekly bowed head on his breast, one foot tucked under his feathers—one might imagine to warm it, if he only changed his feet now and then—but no, on one long bare leg he stood, and it seemed to be always on the same leg, in the shallow water, balancing himself in perfect stillness till he pounced on his prey and secured his fish, with that same sharp hard bill wherewith his ancestors have stilettoed so many a noble Falcon, in the olden days of that sport.P. S. B.

The flea, grasshopper, and locust jump 200 times their own length, equal to a quarter of a mile for a man.