We have received many interesting accounts of the arrival of our migratory birds, and, as the cuckoo and swallow are recorded by numerous observers, their respective times of arrival may be shown in a tabular form:—
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The Nightingale is also recorded from Sedgebrooke and Castle Ashby on the 23rd, and Kibworth on the 18th. At Oscott three sea-gulls were noticed flying from the N.E. at 2 45 p.m., on the 24th. A fine lunar halo was seen on the 12th.
Correspondence.
Brilliant Meteor on April 2nd, 1878, at 7 56 p.m.—Did any correspondent see anything of this last night. It was about 8O° high, end of a bluish white colour, very fine and brilliant, and of large size, and came slowly down in a direction a little west of south. I did not see the end of it, on account of a high building blocking the view, but hope other observers were more fortunate—William Arnold, Tamworth.
Primula Vulgaris.—We have in our garden a number of roots of Primula vulgaris, which, so far as I know, have not been moved for several years. Some retain their original colony and form, others have altered to different shades of red, whilst some are white, and in two cases the calyx has become petaloid, a green stripe remaining to represent each sepal. On one plant the inflorescence is an umbel and the flowers are dark crimson, with a cream-coloured spot on the margin of each petal; (I have found a similar inflorescence on the ordinary yellow primrose.) Can any of the readers of the "Midland Naturalist" tell me the reason of these changes?—M. E. C.
Prunella Vulgaris.—l observed the white variety of Prunella vulgaris pretty plentifully two years ago near Birnam, in Perthshire, but did not examine it sufficiently closely to say whether it corresponded with the description given of it by Mr. Mott at page 136.—H. F. Johnson, Nottingham.
Moss Catalogue.—it may be useful to the readers of Mr. Bagnall's papers on mosses to know that "The London Catalogue of British Bosses," compiled by C. P. Hobkirk and H. Boswell, 1877, can be obtained of Mr. T. B. Blow, Welwyn, Hertfordshire. price fourpence. It contains a list of the species found in Britain, including those discovered since the publication of "Bryologia Britannica," arranged according to the system of Professor Schimper, who is the greatest authority upon the mosses at the present day.—J. S., Bridgenorth.
The Direction of Rotation.—A small animal, which had received an injury to one hemisphere of the brain, was affected in such a way thut it continually rotated upon its own axis, and some time ago a discussion took place as to the direction of this rotation, The question
