170 SUMMABY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



they eat newly sown and sprouting seeds, and fruit-buds : they eat very 

 few insects, but many weeds. Chaffinches eat various kinds of larvge, 

 green-fly, etc., but destroy fruit-buds, freshly sown and sprouting crops. 

 Rooks destroy leather- jackets, chafer larvae, wireworms, caterpillars, slugs, 

 young voles, but also eggs and young of fowls and partridge, certain 

 fruits, and freshly sown seeds. The jackdaw eats cockchafer grubs, wire- 

 worms, and leather- jackets ; like the rook, it will strip trees of walnuts, 

 and where numerous, is destructive to peas and grain crops. It is a 

 very destructive bird to the eggs and young of game-birds and poultry, 

 and will completely clear the nests of small birds of their eggs and young. 

 The wood-pigeon seems to have no redeeming feature from the farmer's 

 point of view. Blue-tits are great insect-eaters ; they collect caterpillars 

 from fruit trees, but they also spoil apples, pears, and other fruits. The 

 blackcap, whitethroat, and robin are insect-eaters, but levy some toll on 

 fruits. The wren, willow-wren, goldcrest, hedge-sparrow, tree-creeper, 

 spotted flycatcher, pied wagtail, goatsucker, martin, swallow, swift, etc., 

 are all useful and above reproach. The goldfinch is very useful as a 

 weed seed-eater, as it splits the seeds before eating them. Larks seem 

 to do considerable damage to growing crops, strawberries, peas, cabbage, 

 and green crops. Of course the author points out that in many cases 

 the verdict is still indecisive ; the facts require to be more numerous 

 and precise. Particular attention is given to the black-headed gull, 

 which eats earthworms, wireworms, leather- jackets, slugs, and much vege- 

 table and animal matter considered " neutral " from a practical point of 

 view. If it gets plenty of insects and worms, it does not take to fish or 

 cereals. 



INVERTEBRATA. 



Mollusca. 

 o- Cephalopoda. 



Large Cuttlefish at St. Andrews.* — W. C. M'Intosh, in his recent 

 contribution of notes from the Gratty Marine Laboratory, records the 

 occurrence of a large specimen of Ommastrephes sagittatus, d'Orb., 

 stranded on the rocks near St. Andrews. The length of the mantle 

 from the tip of the tail to the collar was 25 in., the pen measured 23 in., 

 the eight arms had an average length of IZ\ in. ; the tentacles were 

 unfortunately absent. A description of the suckers is given. 



#. Gastropoda. 



New Parasitic Gastropod. f — Paul Bartsch describes Eulima ptilo- 

 crinicola sp. n. found on Ptilocrinus pinnatus, dredged by the ' Albatross ' 

 in 1588 fathoms off British Columbia. The three specimens had the 

 proboscis deeply inserted in the side of the body of the Crinoid, and 

 it was necessary to sever it in order to release the shell. The parasitic 

 habit, the texture, and weak malleations of the surface, recall certain 

 forms of Stylifer, but the absence of the mucronate apex and the 

 presence of the operculum make it necessary to refer the new form to 

 Eulima. 



* Ann. Nat. Hist., xx. (1907) pp. 172-5 (3 figs.). 



t Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., xxxii. (1907) pp. 555-6 (1 pi.). 



