thrushes, but feeds on the berries of the mistletoe and ivy. It is the great disseminator of the mistletoe, hence its distinctive name. The nest is usually exquisitely covered on the exterior with lichens, to match those on the tree surrounding the nest, so as almost to defy detection.

JANUARY 28TH.

THE COMMON OR DUCK BARNACLE.—(Curipeda.)

THIS marine animal is well known; it is not unusual for ships arriving from foreign stations to import considerable numbers. Vessels lying for some little time on the coast of Africa become quite fouled by barnacles sticking to every available part of the ship's hull. It is known as the duck or goose barnacle, from the belief that universally prevailed from the 15th to the 18th century, among the learned as well as unlearned, that the barnacle goose, a well-known species of the goose tribe, somewhat larger than the domestic duck, was bred from this mollusk. It was confidently asserted by many that where the trees near the sea were beset by barnacles, they gradually developed themselves into young geese, and then dropped into the sea and duly obtained their feathers.

Gerard, in his Herbal, says "what his eyes have seen and his hands have touched he shall declare," and then relates that on old timber and trees near the sea appears a certain froth, which "in time breedeth into certain shells in shape like those of the muskle, but sharper, and pointed," and that "out of these shells in due time come the legs of a bird, and as it groweth greater it openeth the shell by degrees, till at length it is all come forth and hangeth only by the bill, in due time falling into the sea, where it gathereth feathers and groweth to a fowle bigger than a mallard and lesser than a goose, with beak and white feathers."

Such is the marvellous relation of a learned man, whose excited imagination led him to trace out in the marine animal the outlines of a bird, and fully to believe in the transition of a barnacle into a goose.

Mr. Thompson was undoubtedly the first discoverer of the

true history of the barnacle, which is scarcely less remarkable than that related by Gerard, as the following quotation from Darwin's "Origin of Species" will show :

"The larvæ in the first stage have three pairs of legs, a very simple single eye, and a probosci-formed mouth, with which they feed largely, for they increase much in size. In the second stage (answering to the chrysalis stage of butterflies) they have six pairs of beautifully constructed natatory legs, a pair of magnificent compound eyes, and extremely complex antennæ, but they have a closed and imperfect mouth and cannot feed; they attach themselves to an appropriate place and undergo the final metamorphosis. When this is completed they are fixed for life; their legs are now converted into prehensile organs; they again obtain a well-constructed mouth, but they have no antennæ, and their two eyes are again converted into a single eye spot." A series of metamorphosis unparalleled in the whole range of natural history.

JANUARY 29TH.

THE HAZEL, OR COMMON NUT (Corylus Avellana),

is of all our deciduous trees the most beautiful at this season; long, yellowish-green catkins hang in drooping tassels from every spray, circling like a fountain"-these are the barren flowers, that scatter with every passing breeze the sulphurcoloured pollen-it might, at first, appear as if with no object. If, however, you look along the branches, you will find here and there swelling buds, showing tufts of crimson fibres: these are the nut-bearing buds, which become fertilised by the scattered pollen.

The hazel-tree, although often a copse bush, is occasionally a well-grown tree, and when overhanging a declivity, covered with its drooping, vibratory tassels, has a most picturesque appearance.

In Evelyn's "Silva" there is the following observation, stated to be of great antiquity :-"A good nut year makes a good wheat year." The reason seems obvious, both products requiring a warm, dry season.

Pliny states that the burning of torches made of hazel at marriages was considered "lucky" to the couple.

Hazel twigs were generally used for the divining rod, with which it was pretended that water and minerals could be discovered. We remember, many years since, witnessing the feat cleverly performed by an American, in whose hands the hazel fork seemed to be irresistibly attracted to the water on crossing a brook. Another superstition connected with the hazel prevailed in the olden time, which is more curious still, namely, that by binding hazel twigs to the back of a child's head having grey eyes, they speedily became hazel in colour.

The hazel, irrespective of these superstitions, has its uses, among which may be cited the following:-It is a prolific copse bush; the roots are used by cabinetmakers for inlaying; the wood makes excellent charcoal for drawing; and in Italy hazel chips are used for fining turbid wines.

JANUARY 30TH.

THE BAT (Vespertilio pipistrellus),

may be found during the winter months in the clefts of rocks, old barns, &c., suspended by the hind feet, as if hung up to dry. During hybernation vitality and circulation seem nearly extinct; and as no food is taken for long periods, digestion must, of course, be at an end. An occasional renovation of the system seems to be necessary, and from time to time, guided by unerring instinct, sleep is shaken off. We have repeatedly seen the vespertilio pipistrellus pursuing its zigzag flight, on a mild winter morning, at midday, darting through the cloud of gnats, and thus replenishing the wasted fires within. Bats have a ferocious, unpleasant-looking countenance. Painters, at a loss to tell what a fiend may be like, figure a bat. The ancients devoted it to Proserpina, queen of the infernal regions, on account of its repulsive aspect.

The bat is, however, highly useful to man; the enormous mouth seems to take in squadron after squadron of gnats, and in the summer evenings it must keep down this race of tormentors, and materially lessen other noxious insects that might otherwise prove highly injurious.

The Hebrews considered the bat unclean, and designated it the "bird of darkness." Pliny was evidently puzzled what to call it, and placed it among the birds as the only one having teeth. It is now classed as a quadruped-the only one with wings-a flying mouse, with a head like a mastiff can neither run nor take flight from the ground. In compensation there is given it, at the angle of the wing, a claw-like hook, and by this the animal is enabled to suspend itself from any projecting point, and again resume its flight. Paley says, a singular defect requires a singular substitute." There can be no doubt the bat, like every other member of animated nature, is precisely adapted to its destined mode of life.

66

It has been proved by some cruel experiments that the bat has a wonderful power of perception-a peculiar sense enabling it to perceive the situation of objects without the aid either of vision or touch.

66

JANUARY 31ST.

THE SNOWDROP.-(Galanthus Nivális.)

The frail snowdrop,

Born of the breath of Winter, and on his brow
Fixed like a pale and solitary star”-

is usually considered as the floral herald sent to announce the approach of spring

"The morning star of flowers."

It is one of the fairest and purest blossoms of the year, reminding us of

"Life's bright and happy morning,
All purity and beauty."

The Rev. L. Jenyns, Vicar of Swaffham, Cambridgeshire, in his "Calendar of Periodic Phenomena in Natural History,' notes the earliest period of this flower's bloom for 12 years as the 21st of January. We have repeatedly gathered it much earlier. February would seem, however, to have been of old the usual period of bloom, as the monks called it "Our Lady of February," and dedicated it to the Virgin Mary. It is not

a common wild flower.

Mr. Sweet, in his "Flora Bristoliensis," points out several localities where it has been found; we have met with it at Barrow, and on the banks of the Trym, between Combe Dingle and Sea Mills. It is, indeed, plentiful in the latter locality, and may be often gathered there a week or ten days earlier than the date assigned. Many other localities are indicated in botanical works; it is usually found in marshy, wooded places.

The flower looks so delicate and fragile as it rises between the long, narrow leaves—

"In vernal green and virgin white arrayed"

that we might, on first observation, readily conclude that so fair and frail a flower must of necessity be swept away by the first rough blast of winter. Ample provision has, however, here, as in many other cases, been made for protection. The head of the flower droops, and, the outer leaves overhanging the more delicate portions, the drenching storm has but little power over it, and the rain-drops that touch the flower are immediately thrown off. Its very fragility is its protection from damage by wind; the slender flower-stalk turns its back to every blast, and thus safely rides through the storm that scatters trees like straws.