guillemot (Uria lachrymans) of a bright green colour, "covered with irregular lines of brownish black," he remarks that it proves "the absurdity of the idea that the ringed guillemot lays a white egg." I shall be excused for observing that this is what lawyers call a non sequitur; the only fact established is that this species sometimes lays variegated eggs! It is said, upon good authority, that it also lays eggs of a white colour, and it is so nearly allied to Uria troile, that there is no difficulty in believing that its eggs vary as much as those of the latter species.—William R. Fisher; Great Yarmouth, April 14th, 1848. Occurrence of the Common Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) in the Thames. — On Sunday last an immature specimen of the common cormorant was shot in the river Thames, at Swanscombe, by a bargeman, after being chased by several people for the space of an hour, during which time he kept diving.-Henry Fuller; Swanscombe, May 2nd, 1848. Habits of Sea Gulls (Larus- -?).— The flight of the sea gulls to the moors, west of my residence, has for some days past been curious. During the lambing season they regularly attend the moors to feed upon that which falls from the ewes after lambing, and return to the sea-side after the season is over. In this county there are some one or two places where the gulls congregate in many thousands to breed upon the ground at Palinsburn and Paurton. It is very remarkable that they all arrive nearly on the same day, and remain until their young are old and strong enough to swim back to the sea-side, and take their departure nearly all together. The period of their coming and going is regular to a day or two. The proprietors of the land are careful to keep off trespassers during the breeding time, for although the birds occupy some acres, it would be impossible to walk without destroying many nests.-Isaac Cookson; Meldon Park, April 24, 1848. Occurrence of Buffon's Skua (Lestris parasiticus) near Thetford.-An immature specimen of the Buffon's skua was found dead at Hockham, in September last. I saw the bird when stuffed, but unfortunately I am unable to give you any further particulars about it.-Alfred Newton; Elveden, May 1, 1848. Dates of Arrival of Migratory Birds near Elveden. Fieldfare, September 27 Dotterel, September 29 Hooded Crow, October 5 Woodcock, October 6 Golden Plover, October 12.-Id. Redwing, October 14 Mountain Finch, November 19 Mealy Redpole, December 5 Description of a Species of Newt.-A kind of newt occurs in ponds and ditches about Edinburgh which I have not observed elsewhere. The males are remarkable for a ridge on each side of their back, which gives it great breadth and squareness, for their wholly-webbed feet, and for the mode in which their tail terminates: it appears as if the tip had been nipped off, the central filament of it only remaining, and projecting for a quarter of an inch. In colour and style of marking it differs considerably from Lissotriton punctatus of Bell. The females are less easy to recognise. There appear to be characteristic differences in the bones of the two species, at least in 2 c VI the vertebræ and the skull, also in the general proportions of the head, body, and tail. The males do not vary much from one another: I have examined upwards of one hundred of them, but as yet only in their spring appearance. The webs of the feet, the caudal filament, the crests, and the dorsal ridges are probably absorbed later in the year, as I judge from the degrees of development I have already seen, and especially from a newt of this kind I found in the bed of a pool which had been dried up some days before. It occurs in company with L. punctatus, but in one ditch I found it alone and in plenty, from which I have been able satisfactorily to ascertain the females. A more full account will I hope before long be furnished by Mr. Bell, who had specimens of the same, or a similar newt, sent to him from Devonshire several years ago. It seems to occur generally round Edinburgh, as far as my walks extend. Yesterday (May 1st) I saw this, and no other species, during a ramble in the Pentland Hills.-J. Wolley; 3, Roxburgh Terrace, Edinburgh, May 3, 1848. [I trust Mr. Bell will furnish the 'Zoologist' with a name as well as description, bearing in mind the admirable dictum "Nomina si nescis, perit et cognitio rerum.”Edward Newman]. Remarkable Instance of Voracity in a Trout. — I send you a singular instance of the voracity of the trout, which you may think worth inserting in the next number of the 'Zoologist.' A friend of mine, while fishing in a brook at Yoxall, in this county, on the 18th of this month, caught with a spinning minnow a trout of about one pound weight, in the throat of which he found a toad, that had been swallowed head first, that part being already digested, while the legs still remained within its mouth. Trout, in our brooks, vary much in the time of their coming into season: those in the brook above-mentioned were in season when he caught the above, but in the brook which runs past this place they are seldom in season until the middle of May. Can this proceed from any difference in the temperature of the water, which in the latter is remarkable for its coldness? Oswald Mosley; Rolleston Hall, Staffordshire, April 26, 1848. Occurrence of Amphipeplia glutinosa near Norwich. Locally and periodically abundant." (Gray's Manual). I have lately taken off the Siums and other aquatic plants in the river near this city, many dozen specimens, some of them exceedingly fine ones, of this beautiful and interesting mollusk.—W. K. Bridgman; 69, St. Giles Street, Norwich. Occurrence of Vanessa Antiopa at Penge, Surrey. On Sunday, April 2nd, I saw a fine Vanessa Antiopa settle in the middle of the road at Penge, about a mile from Sydenham. Unfortunately I had no net with me and could not capture it. I had only the pleasure of seeing it fly away and return to the same spot within a few feet of me. Finally it disappeared among the trees at the road-side.-J. W. Douglas ; Peckham, April 6, 1848. 1 Cerura vinula killed with Chloroform. A puss-moth, which I had possessed as a caterpillar last summer, emerged from the chrysalis yesterday. I at once placed him in a large stoppered bottle, dropped a few drops of chloroform on the stopper and closed it. The insect instantly became affected, and death ensued in a few seconds. The greater convenience of a fluid when compared with the inconvenience of using laurel leaves on the one hand, and on the other the safety of using chloroform as compared with the risk attending prussic acid, would, I should suppose, make the plan now proposed the one most available for general use. A small portion of sponge glued or gummed to the bottom of the bottle to receive occasionally a few fresh drops of chloroform would make the apparatus complete; or a little piece of blotting-paper dipped in chloroform and dropped into the bottle answers as well. A little chloroform also dropped into the collecting box or cabinet, receiving fresh specimens, would have the double advantage of preventing revivals and driving away all depredators.— T. Bell Salter; Ryde, May 16, 1848. Capture of Achatia spreta on Willow Blossoms.—I take the liberty of sending the notice of a capture made upon the 1st of April last upon willow blossoms, which seems to me rather unusual, viz., a very fine specimen of Achatia spreta. This moth has hitherto been known, I think, as a summer species. Also upon the same night Pterophorus galactodactylus. I should not trouble you with these remarks, did I not think that some of your readers might profit by the news, and keep a "sharp look out in those neighbourhoods where the willow blossoms late.-W. E. Hambrough ; Nulton, Suffolk, April 6, 1848. Capture of Glæa rubricosa on Sallow Blossoms.-During the early part of April I took, in tolerable abundance, Glæa rubricosa, whilst regaling itself on the catkins of our early sallow (S. capræa). Westwood says it is a rare species, and figured the larva on Rumex acutus. This plant, however, does not grow here. It must, therefore, be a less exclusive feeder than is generally supposed. I shall be glad if any gentleman who has given attention to the breeding of the caterpillar of rubricosa, would kindly state whether he has found it to feed on any other plant besides R. acutus. R. obtusifolius is unusually abundant with us, as is R. acetosa. - Peter Inchbald; Storthes Hall, April, 1848. Further Remarks on Apterous Female Geometræ.-Since I sent you my remarks on the females of our British Geometræ, I have had an opportunity afforded of describing from a living specimen the characteristic markings of the female of Hibernia leucophæaria. The insect before me was found on the bole of a birch on the 25th of March. Like its mate, it is the smallest of the Hibernias except rupicapraria. The scales on the thorax and upper part of the abdomen are variously tinted with gray, black, and ochre; while those of the under side are of a pale dun colour, with the admixture of a few black and white scales, particularly visible on the legs. It is nearly, though not entirely, apterous, the rudimentary wings being distinctly visible with a good magnifier.-Id. A Monograph on the British Argyromiges. By H. T. STAINTON, Esq. (Concluded from page 2097). Sp. 21. TENELLA, Zeller (fig. 21). Lithocolletis tenella, Zeller, Linn. Entom. i. 236, f. 30. Forehead white. Expansion of the wings 3 lines. Head white. Palpi white. Antennæ white. Thorax white. Abdomen fuscous, with the extremity fulvous. Legs white. Tarsi white, spotted with pale fuscous. Anterior wings white, with two fuscous streaks arising near the middle of the wing, one on each margin, which meet (or very nearly so) at an acute angle; beyond there is another pair of streaks, meeting at an obtuse angle,-that on the inner margin is less oblique than in Cramerella; a small white marginal triangle follows these streaks, the remainder of the wing being fulvous, with the exception of two white comma-shaped marks on the costa, margined internally with fuscous; and towards the inner margin is a faint dark streak, in continuation, as it were, of the dark margin of the first costal spot: at the apex is an oval black spot, round which, on the cilia, is a series of black dots, as in Cramerella: cilia white, with three dark patches on the costa, one on each side of the pale spots; the last is rather curved downwards. Posterior wings pale gray; cilia whitish. Some specimens have a fuscous streak from the base of the anterior wings to beyond the middle (as that figured). I took one in Torwood, Stirlingshire, June 11th last, beating it in a thicket, in which were birch, oak and hazel underwood, and some fir trees. Mr. Weir has also taken this insect in May, near Keymer, Sussex, beating it out of a hedge, in which grew oak, bramble, whitethorn, &c. Zeller says of it, "This scarce species flies near Reichstadt and Vienna, on oaks, in May and June." It may be distinguished from Cramerella by the four fuscous streaks on the costa, instead of three, and by the less oblique direction of the second inner marginal streak, and the faint indications of a third inner marginal streak. I do not mention the basal streak here, as Zeller has made another species with a basal streak, that being its greatest character to distinguish it from tenella: this species he calls Heegeriella: like tenella, it has four costal streaks. Whether tenella varies, and this be only a variety, I do not feel positive. My own specimen, which is the one figured and described, approximates to Zeller's Heegeriella. Mr. Weir's specimens, without a basal streak, and with the apical spot more prolonged (more of a line than a spot), appear to approximate to the tenella of Zeller; but I certainly should not feel justified in making two species of them without seeing a longer series of each. Mr. Allis has also a specimen which resembles my own: the specimen in Mr. Bentley's collection resembles Mr. Weir's specimens. Note. Of Heegeriella, Zeller had only two males when he described it in the Linnæa surely where the species are so very closely allied, that is hardly enough to form a species on. Sp. 22. ROBORELLA, Zeller (fig. 22). Lithocolletis roboris, Zeller, Isis, 1839. Linn. Entom. i. 174, fig. 4. Forehead snow white. Thorax white, with two Expansion of the wings 3 lines. Head snow white. Palpi snow white. Antennæ white, annulated with fuscous. golden bands, one on each side of the middle. Abdomen fuscous. Legs and tarsi silvery white. Anterior wings silvery white; at the base is a golden oblique fascia, commencing on the costa, where it is broadest, and terminating in a point about the middle of the inner margin; on the costa near the apex are three short golden streaks, the first pointing outwards, the other two inwards; on the inner margin is a golden streak, meeting the first costal streak, and forming with it a right angle: at the apex is a somewhat triangular black spot; the space between this spot and the anal angle is suffused with golden: cilia silvery white, but with two dark patches opposite the last two costal streaks, and with a strong black line opposite the black spot. Posterior wings pale fuscous; cilia long silvery white. I have only seen one British specimen, which was taken by Mr. Bedell (he believes off an oak) on Leatherhead Common, September 28th, 1845. Zeller says of it, "It occurs at Berlin, near Frankfort-on-the-Oder; and Glogau, in young oak woods, sometimes plentiful, in two broods, of which that from the middle of April and in May produces the finest specimens. The second brood appears at the end of June and in July, sometimes also still later. Tischer found the species at Dresden; Mann near Reichstadt, in Bohemia, very scarce; oftener near Vienna, and certainly here on oaks and maples. The caterpillars, which I have not yet observed very closely, live in the under leaves of the oak (Quercus pedunculata). The part of the leaf frequented by it is shown by the dappled upper side, because the caterpillar consumes the leaf the least in the middle, only marking the leaf here and there. On chrysalizing it makes itself a fine silky cocoon in its habitation. The little black pu pa, on the creeping forth of the moth, presses through the under half of the epidermis. Sometimes several caterpillars live in the same leaf, each in a separate rib. Of two living together in one leaf, one moth came out on the evening of the 30th of June, the other on the morning of the 1st of July. Of the autumnal brood, there appeared in my room specimens in January, along with Tischeria complanella.* That the maple (Acer campestre) also serves as food to L. roboris, appears to follow from Mann's communication." Sp. 23. HORTELLA, Fabricius (fig. 23). Tinea hortella, Fabricius, Ent. Syst. iii. ii. 327. Haworth, Lepid. Brit. 579, 65. Elachista Saportella, Duponchel, xi. 539, Pl. 308, f. 10. Lithocolletis Kuhlweinella, Zeller, Isis, 1839. Lithocolletis Saportella, Zeller, Linn. Ent. i. 177, f. 6. Expansion of the wings 3 lines. Head white. Forehead white. Palpi white. Antennæ white, annulated with fuscous. Thorax white. Abdomen fuscous, with the * Aphelosetia rufipennella, Haworth. |