30 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



Starlings and Sparrow-hawk. On the 201I1 September, 

 while removing a binder from one field to another, a large flock 

 of Starlings, from 200 to 300, swooped over my head, landed 

 practically among my feet, and crept into two stooks of oats, then 

 a Sparrow-hawk swooped down among them just about fifteen yards 

 from me. I rushed round the stook, when he rose straight in the 

 air to a great height and disappeared baulked of his dinner. Then 

 the Starlings began to come out of the stooks in a steady flow for 

 about three minutes' duration, a most exciting three minutes for me. 

 William Wilson. 



Alosterna tabacicolor, De G., in Lanarkshire. This 

 longicorn is rare in Scotland, and it may therefore be of interest 

 to mention that a few specimens were taken near Lanark during 

 the summers of 191 7 and 191 8. This is the second recorded 

 station for the species in the county, as Mr King has already noted 

 the capture of a single specimen from the Gorge of Avon {Glasgoiv 

 Naturalist, i., 138). Records of the beetle from the Forth area 

 are given by Mr Evans in this magazine (1916, p. 308). My 

 captures were made upon the blossoms of Spircea and umbelliferous 

 plants. A. Fkrgusson, Glasgow. 



Liopus nebulosus, L., in Lanarkshire. Liopus jiebulosus is 

 not at all a common beetle in Scotland, and even when found it 

 does not seem to occur in numbers like some other local species 

 of the Longicornia. In the Clyde area it has hitherto only been 

 recorded from one locality in Dumbarton and two localities in 

 Stirling {Trans. Glasgozv Nat. Hist. Soc, \in., N.S. 305; Glasgozv 

 Naturalist, i., 138), and the records from these counties are based 

 upon the capture of single specimens. I am glad to be able to 

 report it from Lanarkshire upon the capture of one example by 

 sweeping the herbage below some oak trees near Lanark in June 

 1 9 18. Although I beat the trees and swept under them again no 

 more specimens were seen. A. Fergusson, Glasgow. 



Rhagium mordax, De G. (inquisitor, Brit. Cat.), and 

 R. bifasciatum, L., in Clyde. With reference to Mr Evans' 

 notes upon the occurrence of these longicorns in the Forth area 

 {Scottish Naturalist, 191 6, pp. 307, 308), it may be of interest 

 to detail their ascertained distribution in the Clyde area. As 

 elsewhere, R. bifasciatum is here our only common longicorn, and 

 I have it noted from the counties of Ayr, Lanark, Stirling, Main 

 Argyle, and Dumbarton, while it probably occurs in the remaining 

 counties within the area. i?. 7>iordax is a much scarcer insect. 



