ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE. The Cuckoo and the Gossamer. -You said, some time since, you would reprint your " Notes on the Cuckoo," together with all the correspondence thereon that was made public-I wish you would do so. [We will redeem our promise by and by. We have not forgotten it. There will be plenty of time before he returns again to | us. He is only heard in mild, warm weather. His song, though monotonous, is cheerful. The habits of this bird, so long doubtful, are now well understood. Nature is not quite so un-natural as some foik will have her to be.] Please also to tell us something about the gossamer. I take your Paper; and expect such little favors to be granted me. W Cox, Bobbington, Bridgnorth. [We will insert A Paper on the Gossamer next week.] "Our own Editor."-" The ladies of Nottingham," my dear Sir, have done well to compliment you, through their "Donna Violante," for your zeal in their particular service. But the ladies must not have it all their own way. Our OWN JOURNAL is one of the most interesting of existing periodicals. Apart from all humbug and time-serving, it furnishes us from week to week with an immense variety of honestly-attested facts in almost every branch of Natural History. If perseverance, good sense, good tact, good taste, and a well-stored mind, deserve the patronage of the public then surely our own Editor commands it. Let me therefore, on behalf of the Public generally as well as on my own behalf, most cordially unite with the fair VIOLANTE and her lovely sisterhood, in wishing prosperity to our excellent Editor. Every reader, let me hope, whether masculine or feminine, will assist in contributing to the JOURNAL on all interesting subjects that may happen to come under their own particular observation. We shall thus all contribute towards keeping up the well-earned renown of OUR OWN JOURNAL, and thereby be mutually benefited by its perusal. May you live, my dear Sir, for many years to come, to gladden our hearts weekly; and may WE live for as many years, to assist in returning the quid pro quo in the shape of £ s. d. These mutual exchanges are "profitable investments," both for body and mind. - BOMBYX ATLAS, Tottenham. [Having given insertion to the kind offering of Friendship transmitted to us through Donna Violante (see p. 151), we cannot very well withhold that of our equally-valued friend and ally, BOMBYX ATLAS-the king of entomologists, and the model of disinterested noble generosity, May we all-as he wishes-live for ever!] Curious Hybrid Grouse. Dear Mr. EditorThe following appears in our Manchester Guardian:-"A remarkable specimen of a mixture of breeds, from two of the finest game birds of this country, has been received by Mr. Muirhead, the game-dealer. Victoria-street. It was shot in Perthshire. Upon examination, it is found to possess strong characteristics of its parental descent from the male of the black grouse (Tetrao Tetrix), and the female of the caper. cailzie (Tetrao Urogallus), bearing a greater re. semblance to the black grouse than to the capercailzie. The head, neck, and breast are mottled and barred with brown and black; the throat, with black and white, the whole of the back and under the wings are freckled with dark brown and black, without any of the glossy blue-black feathers of the black grouse. The wings are black and brown, with small bars and spots of white. There is the white tuft at the shoulders, but not the broad white band which belongs to the black grouse. The belly is black, with spots of white tipping the feathers down the centre, as in the male capercailzie. The legs are marked like the black grouse, but are stronger, and claws with larger pectinations. The tail is not fully grown, but in its present aspect exhibits an anomalous mixture of the differently shaped tail of its parents. The feathers are glossy black; four of the centre feathers and the two outer feathers are two inches longer than the rest. The centre feathers are rounded and shaped as the tail of the capercailzie, but the outer feather has a tendency to curve, as on the tail of the black grouse. The under coverts to the tail, and those feathers covering the blanks, are barred with black and white, as in the capercailzie. In its proportions it exceeds the ordinary black grouse, and it is not so large as the female capercailze. It is evidently a bird of the year, and had it been shot later in the season, would have been larger, and a more richly marked bird. It weighed 21b. 12oz." Mr. Muirhead has presented the specimen to the Salford Royal Museum, where it is now placed in the British collection.-JOSEPH L., Manchester. Remarkable Descent of Insects. I have just read in No. 38 of OUR JOURNAL, an account of the very remarkable flight of ants, sent to you by "J. T.," Windsor. It brings forcibly to my remembrance a flight, or rather a descent of insects, which took place here a year or two since. I will describe them as well as I can, and then I know your most delightful correspondent, BOMBYX ATLAS, will tell us all about them. They were about twice the size of the common aphis; nearly of a similar form, but the wings were somewhat longer. Their color was a brownish black. Their arrival (in armies) was marked by one bright, lovely morning in June. How well do I remember it! At 11, A.M., the sky became suddenly overcast. Within one short quarter of an hour afterwards, everything was literally covered with the insects of which I have been speaking. They fell just like rain. Throughout the day, they betook themselves to trees, vegetables, flowers, and shrubs. Hereon they fixed themselves firmly, their heads being downwards, and their wings above. The feathery appearance thus imparted to the trees and flowers, was curious beyond description. Their tenacity was such, that it was a matter of real difficulty to remove them. So exceedingly numerous were they, that thousands were found en masse on one small beanpod! Their sojourn lasted three days. Their exodus was then as sudden as their advent. They fled; and left behind no trace of their visit. Their quarters, let me add, had extended to the full distance of a mile!-FLORA G., Worcester. 1 Vinegar; and the Penalty of Using it.-Do, Mr. Editor, call attention to the fact of almost all, if not quite all the vinegar now in use, being poisonous. The Analytical Sanatory Commission, by the aid of microscopical and chemical re-ing in ambush to join the cavalcade! for a journey, Brutus was sought for, to be "tied up;" but he was non est." All search for him proved vain, and his master set out. Half a mile from home, however, there was Brutus, lyHis search, has just examined the vinegar of almost every maker of any note by whom the metropolis and its suburbs are supplied. The results are perfectly frightful. We appear to have given death a crystal sanctuary, and invited him to the centre of our table. "There is a skeleton," says an old writer, "present at every banquet:" but here, in the shape of sulphuric acid, or vitriol and acetic acid, the unscrupulous manufacturers have provided us with the means of rapidly converting all assembled into grim anatomies. A word from you, Mr. Editor, will be a public benefit. A HOUSEKEEPER. [This is sent us just in time to form a part of "our Code of Health" (see page 210). We can readily believe, by our own daily experience, that the above are "real facts." Among things to be avoided, therefore, let us at once insert the word "vinegar." If, as in the case of ardent spirits, people will gratify their appetites (knowing the consequences), on themselves be the just punishment of drinking this "haunted" vinegar. Why, the very oysters, although so "used" to it, would recoil from imbibing it!] Value of a Man when "Dead." - My dear Mr. Editor,-Whilst a man lives, his real value is not known. Let him die; and if he be a public man, his value is increased a thousand-fold! Strange, but true! The good old Duke of Wellington had not been "gathered to his fathers" six hours, before every book that contained one word about him in his early, middle, or later life (from 1d. to two guineas), was looked up, advertised, and paraded before the public as being "the only authentic account of this great man's life." The papers have, ever since Sept. 16, groaned with these advertisements." This suggests an idea to me. Suppose you let yourself some day be announced as "dead," for about a month. I imagine you would by this move find, on your coming to life, that the stock of OUR JOURNAL had been greedily bought up, and its "value" properly appreciated! It is really worth the trial. Do die, Mr. Editor, -pray do! -NANNETTE. [Agreed, fair Syren. Will you, meantime, undertake to hold the reins for us, and see that our team is carefully driven? We will then "depart" before winter sets in; and, in a distant land, complacently read in the newspapers the account of our own "regretted death."] Sagacity of the Dog. -Your love for the canine race, Mr. Editor, and the many delightful anecdotes you have so lovingly and graphically recorded of them, induce me to send you the following. The scene of action was Thames Ditton; the owner of the dog, Mr. Baker, of that village. The dog's name was "Brutus." Now Brutus, a black French poodle, was in the habit of going out with the horses; but when the distance to be travelled over was great, he was not allowed to accompany them, but was shut up. One day, the horses being got ready "leaps" up to the horses' heads were joyous beyond conception; and he seemed to revel in this little harmless act of deception. This was often repeated, until a final stop, as was supposed, had been put to the trick. One day, however, he heard the order given for "the horses to be harnessed." The dog was off in a moment; and on this occasion he was observed and watched. He was traced warily jogging towards a builder's yard, and here he artfully secreted himself behind a quantity of timber, in a sly corner. His nose was then projected between the railings; and as there was a view from hence of the meeting of the three roads, and of a foot-path for pedestrians across a public field, all that passed must come under his eye. He knew this! No sooner was the chaise driven past on the road to which the footpath led, than out rushed Brutus. After crossing the field, he joined the party on the other side, as quietly as if he had started with them from home. Is this not "thought," Mr. Editor?-VERAX. [It is very much like thought. We have witnessed many similar acts of prevision in the dog; which accounts for our always naming him among our earliest and very best of friends.] Cochin China Fowl. They should be either dark bay, light buff, cinnamon, or partridge color. However, unitorm buff, nankeen colors, are difficult to be met with. Thighs very full fluffed, especially the hens. Legs heavily feathered, even to the toes. The comb small, upright, and serrated; rose comb decidedly bad. Wings well clipped, doubled up under the middle feather. Tail very short, quite a bob, and no sickle feathers in it. Five toes not admissible. Legs yellow. Double pendant ear-Lobe hackle, as evenly placed as if cut; and the crow of the cock "lengthened sweetness long drawn out."C. P., Boston, Lincolnshire. Singular Habits of a Dove-house Pigeon. The delightful character of OUR JOURNAL, uniting as it does so many in one harmonious feeling of sympathy, and love for God's creation, induces me, without ceremony, to send you, pro bono, the following curious particulars of a pigeon. When at Cambridge in the early part of last year, I heard it mentioned that a common farm-house pigeon was every evening in the habit of entering the house of Mr. Tarrant, its owner. Mr. T. was landlord of a well-known inn on the Newmarket Road. Here would this singular creature roost; ensconcing itself very happily and cosily in one corner of a large kitchen. This said kitchen was also used as a common taproom. Naturally interested in this curious statement, I walked over to Mr. Tarrant's, one afternoon in February; and having made known my wishes, Mr. T. at once gave me every facility for witnessing the truth of what I had heard. At the same time, he showed me his most extraordinary collection of animals. I here found dogs, rabbits, common and fancy pheasants, foxes, wolves, monkeys, badgers-in fact, everything appertaining to the qualification of "Purveyor in General" to the sports and pastimes of the many "fast men" who there congregate; and who too often, even after they have " got through Little-go," are not inaptly styled "Fresh men." Having gratified my curiosity thus far, we entered the kitchen a large, square, and rather lofty room. Here we found, quite at home, some guinea-pigs, which a monkey was then handling very affectionately; some pigeons brought up by hand, and several beautiful canaries. But what struck me as being very injurious to the feathered tribe, was an immense fire of peat and coal. This, added to the loud laugh, and boisterous vociferations of half a dozen men who were blowing out such clouds of smoke from their pipes and mouths as would have suffocated a tyro, made me never forget "that kitchen." How those men did drink too! They seemed to think that the smoke and liquors should be in equal proportions. In fact, " a real Cambridge man" seldom meets his equal especially in ale drinking. Thus may we readily account for the innumerable blotchy and bloated countenances for which that town is so noted. The smoke to which I have alluded, and the frightful hubbub, did not at all deter the pigeon from frequenting its quaint and unnatural retreat. The only thing that could keep it out, was the shutting to of the door. Once, by way of experiment, several men stood in the passage leading to the kitchen, while a great many others stood outside. It was Fair time, and the men, of course, all "fresh" and noisy. If hideous sounds, and roystering revelry could frighten or annihilate a poor pigeon, here they were in excess. Still our winged friend appeared as usual. Fluttering gently over the heads of the revellers, it made its way direct to the canary cage in the corner, and here, as was its wont, it took up its abode for the night, unmoved by smoke, noise, and hubbub. Every morning on the early opening of the doors, out it flew, and joined the flock to which it belongs. When we arrived it was late; and the pigeon was expected every moment. Waiting outside for about ten minutes, I observed an immense flock of pigeons on the wing, rapidly flying homewards. On reaching within about fifty yards of the house, I saw one bird detach itself from the rest; and coming direct towards the door (after fluttering over our heads), it glided gently in through the door-way. On entering, there it sat on its accustomed seat, -pluming its feathers, and looking happily around, as if conscious it formed an important member of the assembled guests. This is, I believe, one of the most remarkable circumstances known of a common dove-house pigeon claiming the protection or shelter of a kitchen, in preference to its natural home. And what makes it more remarkable, is the fact that it never was trained to do so, or even brought up by hand; but came of its own accord. Whether it first sought that refuge in preference to being devoured by a hawk, and ever after retained it out of gratitude, is a matter of conjecture to myself as well as others. If not dead, I feel sure it may even now be seen, any evening a little before dusk, by such persons as will take the trouble to call at Mr. Tarrant's.-WM. MOLYNEUX, Ryde, I. IV. [Your account of this pigeon is very interesting. We are as much puzzled about two other pigeons, whose habits are equally singular. They will not sleep out of doors, unless driven out and locked out. They refuse to enter any dove-cot, and will make the dwelling. house of their owners their own home. We must confess there are good reasons for the attachment of these birds to the house, for they are "petted" exceedingly. Their lovely young mistress, LEONORA, as we have recorded (ante p. 170), has won all their affections to herself. They love her so tenderly, that where she is, there they will be. They are milk white, and certainly most loveable creatures. We went down expressly to see them a few weeks since, and were truly delighted to note the amiability of their disposition. They daily associate with their own tribes, as does the one you particularise; but they will have a "separate home" of their own. We again say, we cannot wonder at it. They have inducement of no common kind; and we can readily account for their attachment to one who so dearly loves them. They indeed set "an example" that ought to be generally followed. We wonder if it would be doing wrong, were we to wish to be a "milk-white pigeon!" Large Mushrooms. - Whilst on a recent visit to Derbyshire, I met with some very large mushrooms, -in every respect similar to our common ones, but very thick, and from three to four inches in diameter. The country people call them horse mushrooms, and deem them poisonous. However, passing subsequently through a wellknown town in Staffordshire, I found a woman selling the very same kind of mushrooms. She demanded 2s. 6d. for a small-sized basket, and said they were excellent for making catsup. I found them growing in fairy rings, like fungi, but the smell and shape indicated what they were. As there are many conflicting opinions about these mushrooms, please let me ask, through the medium of OUR JOURNAL-first whether they are a distinct species from the ordinary mushroom; and secondly, are they wholesome and fit for food?-G. P., Tipton. The Beneficence and Grandeur of Nature.Who shall record, Mr. Editor, nay who can comprehend the mysteries of creation, and the invisible Power that moves and directs all? Ever attentive to her interests, nature replaces in one spot what she has displaced in another. Ever attentive to beauty, and desirous of resolving all things into their original dependence on herself, she permits moss to creep over the prostrate column, and ivy to wave upon the time-worn battlement. Time, with its gradual but incessant touch, withers the ivy, and pulverises the battlement. But Nature, ever magnificent in her designs!-who conceives and executes in one and the same moment; whose veil no one has been able to uplift; whose progress is more swift than time, and more subtle than motion; and whose theatre is an orbit of incalculable diameter, and of effect so instantaneous as to annihilate all idea of gradation; jealous of prerogative, and studious of her creations, -expands as it were with one hand what she compresses with another. Always diligent-she loses nothing. For were any particle of matter absolutely to become lost, bodies would lose their connection with each other, and a link in the grand chain be dropped. Besides, so delicately is this globe balanced, that an annihilation of the smallest particle would throw it totally out of its sphere in the universe. From the beginning of time, not one atom in the infinite divisibility of matter has been lost; not the minutest particle of what we denominate element; nor one deed, word, or thought, of any of his creations have ever once escaped the knowledge, nor will ever escape the memory of the Eternal Mind-that exalted and electric Mind which knows no past, and calculates no future! We hear this, we read this, we see this, daily; yet, do we not all live as if we were blind and indifferentło its importance and sublimity? - MIRANDA Entomology; the late Mr. Kirby. When a man excels in anything, Mr. Editor, it must always be of some consequence to know what were his habits; and what external means he employed, in connection with his particular gift. His friend, Mr. Spence, says-" There were two circumstances in Mr. Kirby's study of insects, by which I was always forcibly struck on my visits to him at Barham. The first was, the little parade of apparatus with which his extensive and valuable acquisitions were made. If going to any distance, he would put into his pocket a forceps-net and small water-net, with which to catch bees, flies, and aquatic insects; but, in general, I do not remember to have seen him use a net of any other description. His numerous captures of rare and new Coleoptera were mostly made by carefully searching for them in their haunts, from which-if trees, shrubs, or long grass, &c., he would beat them with his walking stick into a newspaper; and, collected in this way, he would bring home in a few small phials in his waistcoat pockets, and in a moderate-sized collecting-box, after an afternoon's excursion, a booty often much richer than his companions had secured with their more elaborate apparatus. The second circumstance in Mr. Kirby's study of insects, to which I allude, was the deliberate and careful way in which he investigated the nomenclature of his species. Every author likely to have described them was consulted, their descriptions duly estimated; and it was only after thus coming to the decision that the insect before him had not been previously described, that he placed it in his cabinet under a new name.' It was owing to this cautious mode of proceeding - which young entomologists would do well to follow' that he fell into so few errors, and rendered such solid service to the science, and a not less careful consideration was always exercised by him in the forming of new genera, and in his published description of new species, as his admirable papers in the 'Linnæan Transactions' amply testify." - A LOVER OF NATURE. Walnuts, preserved, an excellent Family Medicine. It is stated, Mr. Editor, by one of your contemporaries-and I know it to be true-that walnuts form an excellent medicinal preserve, being an alterative. It is recommended that half a pound of moist sugar be put to a score of walnuts, the jar put into a saucepan of boiling water, and kept simmering for three hours. The sugar, when dissolved, should cover the walnuts. If it does not, add sufficient to do this. Cover the jar properly, and in six months it will be fit for use. The older it is, the better. One walnut is a dose for a child of six years of age, as a purgative. While it is valuable as a medicine, it is also sure to be in high repute, for it is deemed a great treat by the young. - A YOUNG MOTHER. THE CAPTURE OF THE PIKE, A SONG. BY PALMER HACKLE, ESQ. THE greedy pike lies basking cool Alert to seize his food; And drag him from the flood. At last he stops, and sinking deep, In sweet indulgence lost. The time is up! I turn my reel, I've got my distance right; And fight his bravest fight. Hurrah, hurrah! he rushes on! There-check him smartly now! By Jove-a glorious row! Away, away; he'll take his fling! I'LL tease him when he blows! Another plunge! but feebler much; And play him nearer shore; The strong hook fixed with murderous grasp, Lifts him in sight; and see-that gasp, Till he can fight no more! The struggle's o'er; the work is done; HE'S MINE! -HE'S MINE! -HE'S MINE!! SLOW PEOPLE. BY ANOTHER "EMANCIPATED VISITOR." "A fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind." So said my friend, Mr. Slowboy, whilst enforcing his invitation for me to spend a few days with him, at his paternal residence in the neighborhood of the English Lakes; and quite overturning in his ardor all my asseverations of "engagements, want of time, short acquaintance," and a hundred other reasonable excuses-all tending to show why I should not forsake my many duties for a week's ramble in the country. Mr. Slowboy was a naturalist; that is, he had a tolerable museum-unarranged however-and so passed for one. He was fond of the country, and would never tire of a day's excursion, be it never so long. He could talk about geology, press plants, sketch old churches, quote poetry, and do many other things to make himself pleasant and agreeable. And yet, with all this, my fortnight in the lake district-the fortnight which cost me so much extra work before starting, and so much more on my returnthe fortnight in which I expected to regain twenty years' worth, at least, of health and vigor the fortnight in which I expected to feel all the delights and joys of a free nigger, roaming far happier than a bee, or skimming o'er the clear lakes in the early dawn, or stilly even, like a very nautilus itself-was doomed to be one of the most miserable I ever spent. And why? Listen, and you shall hear. Well; the books were brought up, the letters filed, and my little junior was installed sole master of the office, the messenger, and -himself. Then did I, armed with a carpet bag, top coat, fishing-rod, and umbrella, march forth for the railway station; and taking a late train, to save time and expense, in time got turned out of the second-class carriage at the lake end of the line. I had no alternative but to walk on, a distance of ten miles, hire a car, or put up at a first-class hotel. The first would look shabby; the second respectable, but it was dearer; and the third was out of the question. So a car I had, and most heartily did I grudge the fellow his seven-and-sixpenny fare. Most lustily, too, did he abuse me, when I absolutely refused him more than two and sixpence "for himself." It was about eight, A.M., when I drove up the lawn in front of Slowboy Hall; and giving the genteelest tap in the world, I inquired of the half-awakened servant if my friend was at home? "Master isn't up yet," yawned the rough-headed monster. I was expected to breakfast, which was to be "early;" and in I walked, thinking that the lord of the house had been entertaining some friends over night, and would be down soon. I am not a very impatient man, so I bore an hour's waiting with a truly martyr-like spirit; and even warded off my inclination to sleep till the clock struck ten. Nor did I once wish I had got my host by the ear; but when the monotonous "tick, tick," of the time-piece brought the long hand again slowly slowly round to the top, and told on a silver bell that the hour of eleven had arrived, my impatience knew no bounds. I was about to leave the house, when the sound on the stair of a gracefully-carried pair of feet, done up in fur slippers, announced the arrival of Mr. Slowboy. Looking up, I endeavored to put a good face on it, when he "opened" thus: "My dear fellow, is this you? when did you come? - travelled all night, eh? Well, I'ın glad you have come; we'll have such a time of it! I suppose you have planned out how you purpose to spend every quarter of a minute. You business people are so regular!" I had indeed planned, at least, what I should do every day; for being a thorough business man, I like to make the most of my time, and even go about taking my pleasure in a "business-like manner." "Only a fortnight to spend? Oh! nonsense. Going to try Helvellyn to-day? My dear Sir, impossible. In the first place we have a twelve miles' drive there, and the same back; and then your want of sleep! Oh! that would never do. In the first place we'll have breakfast; look at the pictures, gardens, grounds, and so forth; and tomorrow I'm with you for anything." Breakfast did come, and not too soon; and then we adjourned to his picture-room, he to torture me with long accounts of each daub-(who it was painted by; who it was done for; who bought it; and a hundred other little marvels of intense interest to himself, but of none to me) and I to play the hypocrite. Well was I punished for it! Luncheon, at one, was neglected. He was too busy; and I was too patient under the infliction, to mind creature comforts. At length we did get down to it, perhaps about half-past two; and then for a wade among his curiosities, which occupied us till an hour after dinner time. The rest of the evening was spent in the greatest of pain, over wine and fruit. Thus passed my first day among the Lakes. Plague on his pictures! I have seen better in hundreds of the galleries. His curiosities, -what were they? a mass of endless confusion, which he was always "going to put in order." His natural history specimens were as bad. And what was worse than all, they kept my longing heart more sensibly in chains than ever it had felt in my office in |