NOTES 63 



The Goldfinch in East Renfrewshire. Birdcatchers not- 

 withstanding, tlie Goldfinch maintains its position as a nesting 

 species in small numbers in East Renfrewshire. Two or three 

 seasons ago I frequently saw a pair of birds flying between the 

 open country and the gardens adjoining terrace houses within the 

 Glasgow boundary, where, I have reason to believe, they were 

 nesting. Last season (1918) there was a nest in a high hawthorn 

 hedge alongside a much frequented public road at Giffnock. The 

 nest, however, was not interfered with, and eventually I had the 

 satisfaction of seeing the young on the wing attended and fed by 

 their parents. On ist February of this year I saw a party of nine 

 birds frequenting birch-trees near Giffnock. They were busily 

 engaged in extracting nutriment of some sort from the birch 

 buds. John Robertson, Glasgow. 



Rare Diptera in Forfarshire. On the 17th June 191 7 I saw 

 a large Asilid fly at rest on one of the paths in my garden here, and 

 from the bright colour of the legs knew it to be a species I had not 

 seen before. I hurried to the house for my net, but the fly had 

 gone. I looked for it every day, but did not see it until the 24th, 

 when I was fortunate enough to catch it on a low bush. It proved 

 to be a $ of Pamponerus germaniais, L., a fine and large insect, 

 and the only Paleearctic species of the genus. Verrall {Brit. Flies) 

 says it "appears to be dying out in England, as recent captures are 

 very few." Irvine moor seems to be the only recorded Scottish 

 locality. It has been taken with the Beetles Hoplia phila/if/u/s, 

 Phyllopertha horiicola, and aphodius sp., as prey. 



I am glad to be able also to record Rhamphomyia culid?ia, Fin., 

 from the garden, where I found a S on 31st May 1918. This is 

 at present known from a few localities only, and May is an early 

 date for it as it is an autumn species (cf. A/in. Scot. Nat. Hist., 

 191 1, p. 83). I can also record a cJ of Cneniodon vitripomis, Mg., 

 taken 27th June i9i7, a species not hitherto reported from Scotland, 

 though I have a ? taken by Rev. James Waterston at Arniston in 

 July 1906. A. E. J. Carter, Monifieth. 



Sirex noctilio, P., in Forfarshire. A fine 9 of this rare 

 Sawfly was found on 14th August 1918 in an outhouse in a friend's 

 garden here, in which a quantity of wood recently felled in the 

 district had been placed. The insect was alive when given to me, 

 and had, I should say, not long emerged from the wood. I think 

 there can be little doubt about its being a genuine native, as the 

 outhouse is several years old, and only the locally grown timber was 

 about the place. A. E. J. Carter, Monifieth. 



