the purpose of carrying off the prey which the eagles carry to their young.  A very prevalent method by which eagles are destroyed, is the following:—­In a place not far from a nest, or a rock in which eagles repose at night, or on the face of a hill which they are frequently observed to scour in search of prey, a pit is dug to the depth of a few feet, of sufficient size to admit a man with ease.  The pit is then covered over with sticks, and pieces of turf, the latter not cut from the vicinity, eagles, like other cowards, being extremely wary and suspicious.  A small hole is formed at one end of this pit, through which projects the muzzle of a gun, while at the other is left an opening large enough to admit a featherless biped, who on getting in pulls after him a bundle of heath of sufficient size to close it.  A carcass of a sheep or dog, or a fish or fowl, being previously without at the distance of from twelve to twenty yards, the lyer-in-wait watches patiently for the descent of the eagle, and, the moment it has fairly settled upon the carrion, fires.  In this manner, multitudes of eagles are yearly destroyed in Scotland.  The head, claws, and quills, are kept by the shepherds, to be presented to the factor at Martinmas or Whitsunday, for the premium of from half-a-crown to five shillings which is usually awarded on-such occasions.—­Edinburgh Literary Gazette.

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THE PIED OYSTER CATCHER.

This separate and single genus of birds is seldom seen amongst the numerous descriptions of wild fowl, which, in the winter seasons, wing their flight to our marshes.  The most striking part of the Oyster-catcher is its bill, the colour of which is scarlet, measuring in length nearly four inches, wide at the nostrils, and grooved beyond them nearly half its length:  thence to the tip it is vertically compressed on the sides, and ends obtusely.  With this instrument, which in its shape and structure is peculiar to this bird, it easily disengages the limpets from the rocks, and plucks out the oysters from their half-opened shells, on which it feeds, as well as on other shell-fish, sea-worms, and insects.

W.G.C.

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BUTTERFLIES.

The splendid appearance of the plumage of tropical birds is not superior to what the curious observer may discover in a variety of Lepidoptera; and those many-coloured eyes, which deck so gorgeously the peacock’s tail, are imitated with success in Vanessa Io, one of our most common butterflies.  “See,” exclaims the illustrious Linnaeus, “the large, elegant, painted wings of the butterfly, four in number, covered with small imbricated scales; with these it sustains itself in the air the whole day, rivalling the flight of birds, and the brilliancy of the peacock.  Consider this insect through the wonderful progress