Page:Hardwicke's Science-Gossip - Volume 1.pdf/43

] or, what is more probable, the same flock several times. Their flights are short and low, only sufficient to clear the reeds; on the seedy tops of which they alight to feed. If disturbed, they immediately descend by running, or rather by dropping. The movement is rapid along the stalk to the bottom, where they creep and flit, perfectly concealed from view by the closeness of the covert and the resembling tints of their plumage.

"We could hear, but not see, our dog hunting; and we thought he was of service in pointing out to us whereabouts the birds were. His being near them, however, did not make them easily take wing; they seemed to follow him, hovering and crying about him. I question if we should have seen, or even heard, a single bird without his assistance. We were fortunate enough to shoot one (a male) in fine plumage. I held it in my hand when scarcely dead. Nothing could exceed the beauty of the eye; the bright orange of the iris, nearly surrounded as it is by the deep glossy black of the moustaches and streak above, receives additional brilliancy from the contrast, and struck me as a masterpiece of arrangement in colour and neatness. The bill also was of a fine clear delicate orange; but this, too, soon became dull and opaque."

Their food is said to consist of the seeds of the reed, as well as insects and small snails, but we are disposed to conclude from the contents of their crops that they are more insectivorous than otherwise, at least, during the summer months.

The Bearded Tit is found amongst reeds in various parts of Great Britain. We have seen it commonly in Norfolk, and knew that it is found also in Cambridgeshire, and along the banks of the Thames. It is also recorded to occur in Suffolk and Lincolnshire, and a very few other localities. In Scotland it appears to be unknown, and in Ireland to have been seen but once.

During the month of April, this Tit builds its nest amongst the dry stems of grass, reeds, and sedges; these it binds together around its nest by interlacing them with the outer layer of reed leaves, of which the structure is composed. The nest is sometimes in such a position amongst reeds, that it is scarcely possible to reach it from the shore, unless by wading in three feet of water and mud, into the depths of reed-clumps. The marshmen know more of the homes, haunts, and habits of this bird than any one else, or at least might do if they not only saw but observed, and the nests are seldom taken by any except themselves. We have seen a great many nests in our time, and not one taken from the ground, but from within a few inches to a foot of the surface, or suspended amongst dry grass, reeds, or, rarely, in a clump of fragrant "gale," or "guile," as it is locally termed ( Myrica gale). The eggs are commonly but four or five, of a pinkish-white, irregularly spotted and streaked with reddish-brown, and larger than those of any other British Tit, except the Great Tit. In process of time the eggs are hatched, and a young progeny grow up, to gambol and [sic]sommersault amongst the reeds,—and wear moustaches. M. C. C.

OME months since, availing myself of a fine afternoon and a few hours' leisure, I made an excursion into the country in search of objects for my microscope. I had scarcely commenced operations, when I fell in with a gentleman, who, as I soon discovered, was on the same pursuit as myself: the similarity of our object superseded the necessity of a formal introduction; by a kind of instinct we became mutually attracted to each other, and in a few minutes were as free and familiar as old friends.

I found my friend, for so I shall now call him, was the possessor of one of the best microscopes, with objectives ranging from 2 in. to, and all the et ceteras, that placed within his reach every facility for microscopic research. On the present occasion he was hunting for Entomostraca, Rotifera, and any other kind of Infusoria that might come to hand. In the course of conversation, I said, "Are you well up in Diatoms?" To my astonishment, he replied by asking, "What is a Diatom?" For the moment I thought I had unconsciously met with some learned professor, and that his interrogatory was intended to probe the depth of my knowledge on this interesting question, but I soon found that he did not know what I meant by Diatom, and that he was really unconscious of ever having seen one.

I do not suppose that amongst our readers there is one so thoroughly ignorant on a subject familiar to almost every microscopist; there may perhaps be some to whom the following hints on Diatomaceæ would not be uninteresting.

The Diatomaceæ are a large family of tiny plants, almost invisible to the naked eye, re-