102 Mexican Notes. [ ZOE 
plain to me that Mr. Greene has never seen the species which Mr. 
Watson accurately described and which is very appropriately named. 
His description does not in any way describe the species which Mr. 
Watson treated, nor does Mr. Greene describe that species under 
any other name. Brodiea multiflora Benth. is the most clearly 
marked of all of the species with capitate umbels. Its bulb is very 
distinct and grows in thin clay soils, in open ground on south hill- 
sides. The bulbs are often less than an inch from the surface. The 
leaves are broad at base, short and acuminate. The scapes short, a 
few inches to over a foot, mostly about six inches. The name mul- 
tiflora is suggested by the habit of bearing several scapes from one 
bulb, a rare occurrence in any related species. It is the first lilia- 
ceous bulb to flower, often late in F ebruary, at Ukiah. 
———$———— 
MEXICAN NOTES, II. 
BY W. G. WRIGHT. 
A walk along the sand flats of the bay and the edges of the es- 
tero, after Cicindelidze was planned for the next day, and as these low 
and sometimes muddy places were apparently favorable for this 
class of beetles, I anticipated a lively and interesting day’s work, 
with abundant spoil as the result. But here again it was the unex- 
pected that happened. Soon after starting I came to a place where 
a city sewer led its malodorous waters out upon the sands at low 
tide; here I found and captured two tiger beetles of a dull color, 
with thin sharp lines upon the elytra—C. tortuosa. I passed on 
thinking to find more and better species farther along, and away 
from the people who swarmed all about me. Going southward the 
bay skirts first the low part of the city, and then the large cocoanut 
grove that looks so inviting to the stranger from on board ship. At 
this point the lagoon enters the bay, and thence the shore trends 
eastward with extensive sand beaches and mud flats. It was here 
that I hoped to find a full harvest of sparkling beetles, but not one 
was to be seen. Many birds, white egrets, herons, kingfishers, 
flycatchers, and hundreds quite unknown to me, were all about, 
flying, sailing and stalking the flats for their breakfasts. A rocky 
ridge or ledge of loose stones ran out into the flats; here some men 
_ were groping about with fingers and toes to get mussels, about an 
inch across, but very thick. They said they got them to eat. After 
