THE VIRGINIAN COLIN OR BOB WHITE QUAIL, A HELMINGHAM EXPERIMENT by
T H E LORD
TOLLEMACHE
OĂźRfirstexperimentwithBob Whites were a hundred eggs in 1956, of which we reared about 50%. All of these died when they were well feathered, through eating some phosphorous fertilizer which the gardener had placed round the trees in the orchard where we had reared them. The last experiment was when my brother-in-law, in 1957, brought four hundred eggs from Pennsylvania in the Queen Elizabeth, turning them over every night. We hatched about 75% and reared over 50% of these and loosed them in coveys all over this 6,000 acre estate. There were certain areas which they did not seem to like and they moved off. For instance, in Helmingham village they moved down the brook towards Ashbocking and disappeared off the Estate in the Gosbeck direction, where I believe some were shot. Some were shot, also, in the Pettistree area. The next Spring of 1958 was disastrous for rearing and only one or two coveys were reared. A number of nests were destroyed in 1958 and again in 1959, as these birds seem to have a predilection for choosing roadside sites where they are either cut out or destroyed by road workers. The nest is a domed-shaped affair inside a tussock of grass and the eggs are pure white about the size of a blackbird's. This last season of 1959/60 we have seen a number of coveys on the north part of the Estate where the hedges are rougher and there is a certain amount of less well-cultivated land. I understand there are a couple of coveys just off the Estate at Framsden on Mr. George Fox's farm, Boundary Farm, where the fritillaries grow. There is also a covey along the low ground by the little river on my own land and another covey between High Row Wood and Framsden. Three birds were shot out of the latter covey at the shoot at the end of the season. We do not go out of our way to shoot these birds but one cannot resist the opportunity occasionally. They are delicious eating, much plumper and more tender than a partridge. Quail are very difficult to find or to flush unless they are almost trod upon or put up by a dog and my original idea of driving them has not been successful, although from time to time they have come over with the partridges. They are best obviously in rather rough country where they would be found by Pointers and flushed
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THE VIRGINIAN COLIN
by Spaniels. There is no doubt, however, there are still quite a large quantity of these birds around although naturally a number have wandered off the Estate in search of more suitable ground. I think they prefer lighter land and also they want the less cultivated land for cover and they like to live in slightly rougher ground, but they do need the cultivated lands for feed. The chicks are more vigorous and hardier than young partridges—-just like big ants ! We hear them calling a lot in the Spring and a number of people have asked who or what it is that they hear whistling. I was most interested to learn that they had been introduced into the Breck district. I imagine the vermin there were pretty bad and also there was not enough corn for them. T i c e h u r s t , in his " Birds of Suffolk " , 1932, p. 486, has t h e following :— " T h e Virginian Colin or B o b W h i t e (Colinus virginianus) has on m a n y occasions b e e n i n t r o d u c e d in t h e Breck district a n d has b r e d t h e r e b u t t h e e x p e r i m e n t s h a v e always failed to establish this little A m e r i c a n Q u a i l . " T h i s f u r t h e r H e l m i n g h a m a t t e m p t will be followed w i t h interest.
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS ARTIFICIAL DISTRIBUTION OF HEDGEHOGS. Düring the early summer a number of dead hedgehogs were found on the YarmouthAcle road, an unusual occurrence since hedgehogs are extremely uncommon on the marshes. Later in the year two were brought to me having been picked up on the quayside opposite a large food factory. These last must have been brought here in loads of pea vines and it seems probable that those found on the Acle road had fallen from some of the many loads which pass that way. R . H . HARRISON, Gt. Yarmouth. WATER SHREW (Neomys fodiens). I watched a water shrew in a drying up pond at Hitcham at various dates in September, 1959. I was amazed at its skill in catching small water beetles which it brought ashore and then ate sitting under an old water tank at the water's edge. A. L. BULL, Hitcham. MOLE (Talpa europaea) SWIMMING. In a newly cleaned ditch down the centre of which a foot wide stream was running three or four inches deep I watched a mole walk out from the dry edge, wade into the water and swim downstream for ten yards. At this point a root across the ditch bottom formed a miniature waterfall and the mole climbed along this to the side, walked on the dry edge to his original position upstream and again entered the water and swam to the root. He made the same trip three times before sensing my presence and taking cover. Was he sporting, searching for worms, or drowning his fleas ? H. G. BARRETT. Street Farm, Great Glemham.
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325
PIPISTRELLE (P. pipistrellus) IN CHURCH. In January, 1960, much annoyance was caused in Snape Church by animal squeakings during services. Behind a board on which is painted the T e n Commandments I found 21 pipistrelles which were removed and put in a barn 3 miles away. M R S . HARRISON, Snape.
BATS I N W O M E N ' S H A I R . Since the experiments reported in Trans. S.N.S. XI, pp. 193, 271, it has been suggested to me that none of the human subjects concerned had hair of the length of their grandmothers, around which the stories of disastrous entanglements must have arisen. I was indeed told by a near contemporary that in the early 1890's a Norfolk peeress, now deceased, combing her long fair hair before two candles andamirror had just reached the extreme end of the comb-stroke, the point at which many of the shorter hairs float in the air like a golden spray, when a bat Aying into it became inextricably entangled. I was able to repeat this romantic situtation, though by electric and not candle light, with a Whiskered bat (Myotis mystacinus) and a mneteen year old blonde with long fair hair. The bat entered the hair with wings half-spread, closed them instantly and feil through the golden mist onto the floor with a most unromantic thud. CRANBROOK.
BATS U N D E R A ROOF. While a 17th Century farm-house was being re-roofed during April, 1960, a few bats were found between the loose tiles. 9 long-eared and 4 pipistrelles were the only two species captured. H . G. BARRETT, Great Glemham. FIELD M I C E IN A P P L E STORES. During the winter of 1 9 5 8 / 5 9 I trapped nearly 40 Apodemus, mainly A. flavicollis in my apple stรถre. In 1 9 5 9 / 6 0 I caught less than half a dozen, and those all A. sylvaticus. J . CARTER, Stowupland. YELLOW NECKED M O U S E (Apodemus flavicollis) has been recorded from Campsea Ashe (in a house, Lord Alastair Graham). Dalhnghoo (in a house, R. Blythe) and Thwaite (brought in by a cat.
Mrs.
BRISTOW).
GREY SQUIRREL (Sciurus carolinensis). In January, 1960, I saw a grey squirrel drinking at a water splash on the road between Assington and Wormingford. It then ran up a tree where I watched it for about two minutes. In the same month my husband saw one near the same place. D R . GRACE GRIFFITH, Bures.
I have seen a Single grey squirrel at Stansfield on a number of casions. L . HARRISON MATTHEWS.
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NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
C O Y P U (Myocaster coypus). The cold weather of January, 1959, took a very heavy toll of coypu on the marshes adjoining Reydon Water when, frozen out of the dykes, they became an easy prey to man and dog. On January 2nd I saw three baby coypu sheltering below the fallen sails of a derelict windmill. Their numbers seem to have built up again during the warm summer of 1 9 5 9 . R. H . HARRISON, Gt. Yarmouth. M O U S E - H U N T ? In December, 1959, Mr. J . Carter of Stowupland sent me a male weasel-like animal Said to be a " Mousehunt ". I found it indistinguishable from an ordinary weasel. T h e size (head and body 216 mm., tail 58 mm., hind foot 32mm.) being well within the ränge of males of Mustela nivalis and the colour the same. J. H. Gurney (Trans. Norf, and Nor. Nat. Soc. I, p. 22, 1869) says of the weasel " the difference in size in the sexes of this animal is very remarkable ; the females, which are much smaller that the males, are called ' mouse-hunters' in Norfolk. " Female weasels are usually between 150 and 180 mm. from nose to tail. CRANBROOK. SPIDERS. While dismantling a sectional wooden building I noticed the following : the building was octagonal, made of plywood over a framework and in two tiers leaning inwards with cutaway pieces at the top and bottom of each section to enable bolts to be fitted into slots. These cutaways had been covered with roofing feit and, when this had been removed, an amazing Spider population was discovered.
There were hundreds of Stentoda byanchata and a smaller number of Tegenaria domestica in all stages of growth while the cast skins were beyond number. The spider population was densest at the peak of the roof and down the eaves ; the lower sections contained a few only. However, round the junction of upper and lower sections a few Sulticus scenicus were present and one Araneus nmbraticus. But the real interest to me was centered round some 80-100 Queen Wasps, in three of the upper sections, which had been facing east. These were all of the species Vespa germanica and only four were found alive. The point that interests me is this— according to Bristowe (The World of Spiders—Odhams, New Naturalist Series) Segestria, a species which lives under stones, bark, etc., will take bees. But would Stentoda or Tegemaria tackle Queen Wasps during their hibernation ? Or did this amazing collection come to a natural end ? Incidentally, in one web, I found three empty Banded Snail shells and the shell of a millipede. A. L. B U L L . Hitcham, Nr. Ipswich.
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS A N E W M O T U TO THE SUFFOLK
327
LIST.
Just after my notes for the 1959 " Transactions " left for the press, the pretty species, the Feathered Ranunculus (Eumichtis lichenea) came to the m.v. moth trap at Waldringfield on 29th September. This species does not appear to be included in C. Morley's " Memoirs " of 1937 and I have seen no reference to its capture in Suffolk since that year. This is a maritime species and seems to be chiefly confined to the South and West coasts. The specimen itself was freshly emerged and it appears unlikely to be anything but a locally bred insect. Its presence would suggest a possible maritime extension of its breeding ränge. T . A. M. WALLER. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES.
1959 a poor year. No Painted Ladies. One possible Clouded Yellow at Sizewell in August (seen against light)—but I did see two near Seascale in Cumberland on September 16th, 350 miles from here and that much further from the Continent. Large Whites. One seen at Aldringham on November Ist—my only November record. Humming Bird Hawk Moths. A few in September and up to the third week in October. (Otherwise not a single other Hawk Moth in my garden all year.) Queen Wasps are still turning up. I never remember them in December and January before. D. C. GARRETT, Leiston. ENTOMOLOGY
NOTES.
19th June, 1959. Enstrotia olivana in Chippenham Fen. Red Admiral—first date, 13th June. Painted Lady—first date, 19th June, Risby. Clouded Yellow—an influx apparently occurred in early September, individuals being seen at Shotley and Belstead on the 6th and subsequently at Hitcham. MOTHS. Owing possibly to the dry weather, I found the Agrotidae rather scarce at Hitcham this year, and wondered if they were baked into the ground, cracks of up to 2 inches across and 18 inches deep being not uncommon. Plusia chrysitis was exceptionally aboundant this year, as were Idols lactearia, Hemithea aestivaria and Hemistola Chrysoprasaria. Over 100 Zygaena fdipendulai were discovered on Scabious and Knapweed, on a roadside corner at Offton, on 17th July. Agrotis vestigialis on saltings at Trimley on 23 rd August. Aspitates ochrearia on sea wall at Trimley on same date. Scoliopteryx libatrix hibernating among sacks of com at Hitcham on 19th October. DRAGONFLIES. My most interesting record was Aeshna grandis at Long Melford on 16th July.
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NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
WASP. Among the hordes of wasps which came to a sticky end this year was a beautiful Vespa queen Vespa sylvestris, which came into the kitchen on 14th August. A. L . BULL. Hitcham, nr. Ipswich. HIBERNATION OF COMMA
BUTTERFLY.
That fine butterfly book of 1934 by F. W. Frohawk contained the first intimation I had seen that hibernating commas, instead of seeking shelter undercover like their more sturdy relatives, brave the winter blasts fully exposed on the branch or trunk of a tree, and I remember asking myself " What ? Surely not around here ? " Eleven years later Dr. E. B. Ford agreed that it was the habit of commas to do this, and no exception to the rule has come under my notice until October l l t h , last, when I found a female comma had entered my shed here, seemingly for the winter. On being approached it dropped down out of the light on to an old glove, and on this I took it to an unheated room upstairs and induced it to transfer its foothold to a window frame, head upwards. From this position, however, it seemed to jump rather than fly to the window curtain where the foothold was better and sat head downwards. And there, month after month, it remained but obviously very much alive and alert. On cold days the antennae were hidden between the wings, but humidity and rising temperature induced the antennae to display themselves, until when the weather was very mild they were held fĂźll out, and there were two or three occasions when the tongue was unrolled as well and I came to the rescue with a cloth dampened with weak sugar Solution. On March 13th the butterfly partook of such refreshment and then flew determinedly out of the window quite strongly, rather to my regret as it was so early in the year yet. T h u s it was proved among other things that although hibernating creatures of many kinds go into a torpor, this butterfly, like its hibernating relations, does nothing of the kind. But whereas hibernating peacocks and tortoishells have only one trick up their sleeves, the comma has two at least! Peacocks and tortoiseshells in hibernation will angrily snap their wings open and shut to terrorise an enemy, but stand their ground ; commas (sitting head downwards) will fall first and then put on the wing-snapping act if thought necessary as well. E . T . GOLDSMITH, Beccles. A
M O T H NEW TO
SUFFOLK.
On the 12th of July, 1958, I took in my moth-trap a small moth with which I was unfamiliar, but which bore a close resemblance to Argyroploce lacunana Dup., the Indefinite Marble, which is quite a common species in Suffolk. It was not until the autumn of 1959 that I sent it with a number of microlepidoptera to Mr. S. Wakelv, who had kindly agreed to determine my unidentified
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
329
micros for me. He confirmed that it was Cacoecia aeriferana H S the Larch Twist, of which L. T . Ford in his 1958 Supplement to Guide to the Smaller British Lepidoptera 1959 " says " First recorded in Britain by Dr. E. A. Scott who took several specimens at light in his garden at Westwell, near Ashford, Kent in 1952, and in subsequent years. It has since been recorded from Elham Park Woods and Harling Forest Norfolk. The larva feeds between spun needles of larch, pupating in the spinning. The moths appear in June and July ". The generic name has since been changed to Ptycholomoides. Ihis small moth therefore becomes No. 1561 on the Suffolk List. H.
E.
CHIPPERFIELD.
QUEEN W A S P S Whilst re-roofing the side of a very small and old farm cottage, the workman found 34 Queen Wasps. It was noticed generally speaking the wasps were clung together in pairs. J O H N VANE, Needham Market.
{Mimesa unicolor). A female of this small black species was observed working in a disused railroad sleeper during August, 1955, at Bury St. Edmunds 1 he nest was removed from the semi-rotten wood and damaged in the Operation; the sounder parts were retained and smelt strongly of creosote. There were a number of weathered cracks and it was through and along one of these the wasp had its burrow' 1 he architectural layout could only be partly observed, owing to the damage. The burrow was approximately 4" in /ength with short lateral branches, each terminating with a cell which had been provisioned and then sealed with the excavated wood The measurements of three cells were : one of 9 mm. and two of 10 mm. in length. Depth 6 mm. ; breadth 5 mm. They were provisioned with two differently coloured and marked leaf-hoppers which had been paralysed and their average length 4 mm. • in one cell fourteen were found tightly packed with the heads pointing away from the entrance. T h e cocoons were rough and of a greyish colour ; two were 7 - 8 mm. in length and were made of a fragile paper-hke substance in which the legs, wing cases and other chitinous remains of the larvae were incorporated, the whole being completely and securely covered with this material. T h e length of the wasp was 7 mm. H E N R Y J . BOREHAM, Bury St. Edmunds. SOME HABITS OF THE SOLITARY W A S P
(Atheta hodierna Sharp).—NEW TO SUFFOLK While searching through a Kingfisher's nest in September, 1959, tnree Atheta beetles and one larva of this species were found which is apparently rare. They were identified by Mr. Balfour Browne OF the British Museum (Natural History). N I G E L WHITESIDES, Wickham Market. W?-?VE
ßEETLE
330
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
CARROTS IN W O O D PIGEONS'
CROPS.
M r . Smith of Farlingaye School made the the following observations, after examining with his class, the contents of the crops of two wood pigeons which had been shot in February, 1J60, near Woodbridge. Both crops were füll and literally bulging with small whole carrots. Contents of both crops : 70 carrots. Total weight : 123 gms. Length of largest c a r r o t : 5 cms. Width of largest c a r r o t : 18 mms. It is interesting to note the size of the carrots swallowed and to compare the size of the mouth and throat of the wood pigeon— obviously the mouth must have been stretched considerably to to swallow the carrots whole. MRS. M . D . WALKER. JUDAS TREE (Cer eis siliquastrum). T h e r e are two of these trees in the Lower Arboretum, Ipswich, densely covered with blossom now (end of May). Last summer's sun seems to have this effect on many trees and plants, but the extraordinary thing is that little flower shoots are bursting out all up the trunks and main branches. Other trees often do have leafy shoots bursting out on the trunk, but are any others known to produce flowers on the trunk or is this peculiar to Cercis ? Can anyone teil me the cause of t h i s ?
J- C . N . WILLIS.
SNAKES AND T O A D S .
Lt.-Colonel R. H . R. Taylor, T h e Studio, Beicamp St. Paul, Sudbury, writes that the British Journal of Herpetology pubhshed a complete record of British Reptiles and Amphibia in 1948. T h i s is now being brought up to date, and a fresh recording from the beginning of 1948 to the present, and during 1960, is required for Suffolk of the following species :— Anguis fragiles (Slow worm)—Lacerta vivipara (Viviparous Lizard)—Lacerta agilis (Sand Uzard)—Coronella austriaca (Smooth Snake)— Vipera berus (Viper or Adder)—i\tom natrix (Grass or Ringed Snake)—Triturus lelvecticus (Palmate Newt)—Triturus cristatus (Great Crested or Warty Newt) Triturus vulgaris (Smooth N e w t ) — B u f o calamita ( N a t t e r j a c k ) Bufo bufo (Common Toad) -Rana temporaria (Common Frog)— Rana ridtbunda (Marsh Frog)—Rana esculenta (Edible Frog). Will all members, please, help by looking out for these and recalling what they have seen since 1948. Records should show the year the species was observed and the locality (nearest village or some natural feature that is marked on a large scale map). Records should be sent for forwarding to the H o n . See., Miss J. C. N . Willis.