162 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



twenty-one species, or fully one-half of the number that 

 have been recorded as British. If one were to take many 

 birds' nests, keeping them for a time in bags or glass-topped 

 boxes, and to trap large numbers of mammals, the list could 

 soon be considerably extended say to thirty species or 

 thereby ; but for several reasons, apart from a touch of 

 sentiment, I can only work at the group in a limited way. 

 The assumption that the range of a parasite must be 

 co-extensive with that of its " host " is so reasonable that 

 local lists of them may seem to be unnecessary. It is a 

 good rule, however, in this as in other matters, to apply the 

 test of actual observation. Besides, we have still much to 

 learn from local observations regarding the limitations to 

 which each species is subject in the matter of hosts. 

 The species I have now to record are : 



Pulex felis, Bouche. One (?) off my cat, Edinburgh, Oct. 1905 ; 

 identification confirmed by Hon. N. C. Rothschild. For 

 characters separating this form from the next (both are com- 

 prised under the name "serraticeps' 1 '''), see Mr. Rothschild's 

 articles in " Ent. Record," 1901, p. 126, and "Novitates 

 Zoologicce," 1905, p. 192. 



P. canis, Curt. Prof. Bradley, of the Royal Veterinary College, 

 Edinburgh, tells me that they occasionally get Pulex serraticeps 

 on dogs brought there for treatment. With the exception of 

 one example of P. canis ( d ), all the fleas (some dozens) I have 

 recently obtained from dogs have been P. irritans, and I am 

 inclined to think this is the rule in the case of house 

 dogs. 



Ceratophyllus fruigillcc, Wlk. Common in nests of Sparrows and 

 other passerine birds. My specimens are from nest of House 

 Sparrow (Passer domesticns), Tantallon Castle, May 1905; 

 and Starling's nest, Dalmeny, May 1906, swarming. 



C. newsteadi, Rothsch. A number from nest of Blackbird (Tttrdiis 

 merula), near Edinburgh, June. 



Typhlopsylla agyrtes, Heller. Two ( 6" ? ) off Brown Rat (Mus 

 deaimanus), near Drem, Haddingtonshire, Dec. 1904; one 

 ( $ ) from nest of Water Vole (Arvicola amphibia], Luffness 

 Marsh, Feb. 1905. Mr. Rothschild has taken this species 

 from the Bank Vole at North Berwick ("Novitates Zoologies," 

 1898, p. 539). 



