THE GENUS HABROTROCTIA. 639 



the leaf axils of certain small ground mosses, and to gather 

 round it an accumulation of particles within which it shelters, 

 and possibly thus makes a tube of a most elementary description. 

 It produces eggs of broadly ovate form, with rather obtuse ends, 

 shells smooth and hyaline, measuring about 76 fj. x 51 /i. 



Length, extended, about 270 // ; feeding, about 170 jx. 

 Eami, 20 fx. Spurs, 6 fx. Width of corona, 38 p. 



Habitat. Moss among short grass in my garden, Stoke New- 

 ington, and (one individual only) in tree moss from Norton's 

 Heath, Essex. 



Habrotrocha flava, sp. now 

 PL 38, fig. 3. 



Specific Characters. Corona spreading, yet little wider than 

 collar. Pedicels high, sub-adnate. Upper lip undivided, rising 

 rather high to rounded tip. Neck moderately long ; gullet 

 looped ; mastax far back ; rami with six or seven teeth each. 

 Foot very short and stout ; spurs short, strongly decurved, 

 widely separated and diverging ; interspace very convex. 



A species of moderate size with several distinctive characters. 

 "While apparently allied to the long-necked species of the genus, 

 the head and neck are less slender than is customary in that 

 section. The adults are frequently conspicuous from the vivid 

 yellowish red of the stomach and the paler tint of the remainder 

 of the body. The corona appears to be of unusual type. In 

 place of the pedicels being straight, slightly diverging or parallel 

 columns, they seemed to be separated at their bases, to approach 

 each other at half height, and thereafter to diverge ; the inner 

 line of each showing thus a bold curve in dorsal view. Yet they 

 seemed to be connected by a delicate membrane from their 

 bases to near the plane of the trochal disks. I could discern on 

 the dorsal line an unusually faint line marking, as I thought, the 

 outline of a very delicate upper lip, and farther back in front of 

 the retracted rostrum a much stronger line moderately curved 

 crossing the head. The head is rather elongate when the corona 

 is displayed, and the mastax is then usually in the first and 

 occasionally in the second trunk segment. The gullet is long 

 .and is looped when the animal is not feeding. The anterior of 



