May 1, 1868.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



109 



THE STAG BEETLE. 



{Lucanus cervtis.) 



OUR illustration of the metamorphoses of the 

 Stag Beetle is 'from Professor Blanchard's 

 recent work on the "Metamorphoses of Insects," 

 already noticed in this journal. This large and 

 formidable-looking beetle is well known to residents 

 in the southern counties. Mr. E. C. Bye writes of 

 it : " This species is not peculiar to the oak, but is 

 found sometimes on willow— the specimens reared 

 from the latter tree being smaller than the oak-fed 

 examples. It is, however, a well-known fact that 

 great differences in size are always found in species 

 of which the larvse feed on wood ; owing to the 

 many variations to which they arc subject, from the 

 good or bad quality, or too great or too little 

 moisture, of their food, and the long period during 

 which they remain in the larval state. Mr. G. R. 

 Waterhouse has recorded the fact of his having 

 kept a stag beetle alive for some time, which became 

 comparatively tame, and nipped raspberries, &c, 

 with its mandibles, sucking the juice afterwards 

 with its tongue. In Germany there is (or used to 

 be) a superstition that this beetle carries hot coals 

 in its jaws from place to place. The larva of the 

 stag beetle takes about four years before it assumes 

 the pupa state. It is very large and fleshy, of a 

 semi-transparent yellowish-white colour, with a 

 large reddish head. It is peculiar on account of 

 the anterior part of its body exhibiting certain slight 

 transverse folds— a character at variance with its 

 allies. When mature, it forms a cocoon of chips, 

 in which it undergoes its final metamorphosis. 

 The larva feeds in the solid wood, usually near the 

 bark, and reduces it to a sort of tan. It has been 

 considered to be the ' Cossus ' of the Romans." 



Eor further information on this and other of our 

 British Coleoptera, we confidently recommend our 

 readers to consult Mr. E. C. Rye's book on " British 

 Beetles, an Introduction to the Study of our In- 

 digenous Coleoptera," published by Reeve & Co., 

 the cover of which glitters with the golden image 

 of the " stag beetle." 



Quekett MicRoscoriCAL Club. — The first 

 soiree of this club suffered considerably from the in- 

 clemency of the evening ; but the second, which was 

 held at University College on March 13th, amply 

 compensated for the misfortunes of the first. This 

 was emphatically a " bumper," and although our 

 space forbids us entering upon the details of what 

 was exhibited, this receives compensation in the 

 second number of the Quekett Miscroscopical 

 Journal, which contains the official report. But 

 one opinion and one feeling prevailed throughout 

 the evening, which may be represented by the one 

 word "success." 



THE HAWFINCH. 



(Coccothraustes vulgaris!) 



rpHE genus Coccothraustes is essentially Palse- 

 -*- arctic, and is justly considered by Dr. Sclater 

 as a typical genus of that region. It is represented 

 by only one known species, the Hawfinch of the 

 British Islands, which is extended over the whole 

 of Europe and Siberia,* and is recognizable by its 

 strongly-developed beak and the rhomboidal form of 

 the secundaries. I shall first proceed to consider 

 its habits, and then its geographical distribution. 



fe«» 





Fig. 109. The Hawfinch. 



Formerly the Hawfinch was looked upon as quite 

 an uncommon bird in this country, but of late years 

 has been met with more frequently, and, according 

 to Mr. A. G. More,f is "reported as now breeding 

 regularly in Wilts, Kent, Surrey, Essex, Middlesex, 

 and Bucks. The nest has also been found in 

 Dorset, Hants, Sussex, Herts, Berks, Oxford, 

 Suffolk, Norfolk, Warwick, Rutland, Derby, and 

 at Cusworth, near Doncaster." I must except 

 from Mr. More's list the county of Berks from 

 among the latter list of names, and place it among 



* I do not think the Hawfinch of Japan, by some considered 

 to be a good species, can be separated from C. vulgaris. 

 t Ibis, 1865, p. 128. 



