ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 53 



that I was inclined to doubt whether I should admit it amongst my 

 Clyde species." HUGH BOYD WATT, Glasgow. 



Carabus monilis, F., in "Clyde." Mr. John Dunsmore has 

 shown me a specimen of this beetle which he captured near Paisley. 

 I submitted the specimen to the Rev. Alfred Thornley, and he has 

 stated that the identification is correct. Carabus monilis has 

 hitherto had only an insecure position on the Scottish list. It is 

 included in Wilson and Duncan's " Entomologia Edinensis " (1834), 

 with the following remark : " Rather scarce ; it has been taken near 

 Coates, immediately to the west of the New Town." In Murray's 

 "Catalogue of Scottish Coleoptera" (1853) there are two records: 

 "Near Edinburgh, Sir P. Walker," and "Granton, Mr. R. Logan." 

 Dr. Sharp was evidently not sure about these records, as in his 

 "Catalogue of the Coleoptera of Scotland," which is the standard 

 list of Scottish Coleoptera, the species is bracketed as a doubtful 

 one. ANDERSON FERGUSSON, Glasgow. 



Xantholinus fulgidus, F, in " Clyde." On 22nd April 1899 I 

 took a specimen of Xantholinus fulgidus amongst rubbish in a sand- 

 pit at Tollcross, near Glasgow. This species does not appear to 

 have been recorded for Scotland. It is not given a place in Dr. 

 Sharp's " Catalogue of the Coleoptera of Scotland." I am indebted 

 to the Rev. A. Thornley for confirming my identification of the 

 beetle. ANDERSON FERGUSSON, Glasgow. 



Destruction of hibernating Tortoise-shell Butterflies by the 

 Common Wren. For some years past a rather large number of 

 hibernating Tortoise-shell Butterflies (Vanessa urtica:} have come 

 into the house here in autumn for winter quarters, and I have 

 always protected them. This year there was a larger number than 

 usual, there being upwards of twenty specimens on the walls and 

 ceiling of an inner passage, in what may be described as clusters of 

 four or more together, and there were many others in rooms. In 

 November I began to notice detached wings of urtictz lying about, 

 and I saw that the butterflies were rapidly disappearing. I was not 

 long in finding the cause of this destruction, for in going into a room 

 where the window was raised for airing, a Common Wren (Troglodytes 

 paruulus) flew on to the inner sill of the window with a butterfly in 

 its mouth. On going forward, it left it, still alive, but with the head 

 neatly decapitated. Since then it has found its way by open 

 windows into every room in the house, until not a single Vanessa 

 urtica remains. If this is a general habit of the Common Wren, it 

 is not to be wondered at that the finer species of the Vanessidce are 

 comparatively scarce. It would be interesting to hear if any of your 

 readers have had a similar experience. A. ELLIOT, Caverton, 

 Roxburgh. 



