90, Natural History in Scotland, 



only in the caterpillar state. Ph. typocoides, Scarce Gothic. Ph. buc^- 

 phala, Buff tip. Ph. ram esa, Bramble. Ph. gonostigma. Scarce vapourer. 

 Ph. cherophyllata, Great chimney-sweeper. Ph. pudibunda. ^Sphinx El- 

 penor, Elephant hawk. 



Chrysomela Biterula; a very rare insect. Curculio /)ini ; rare. Cicin- 

 dela campestris, Sparkler. Plpula rivosa. Panorpa communis, ^ranea 

 ^adfema. 



It is probable that a practised entomologist would gather a rich harvest 

 in the vicinity of Barmouth ; the insects here mentioned having been 

 collected by an unscientific person, not much acquainted with their habits 

 and haunts. — M. A. R. September 26. 1 828; 



Art. IV. Natural History in Scotland, 



Leaf-cutting Bee. — The editor of the Dumfries Courier, in reference 

 to a paragraph which appeared, I believe, in the Scotsmauy detailing the 

 account of a nest of the leaf-cutting bee (-4'pis centuncularis), formed near 

 Amluch, in Anglesea, cites the case of one in Dumfriesshire, in which the 

 cells were constructed of birch leaves, obtained, it is conjectured, from Cal- 

 lender wood. This remark is followed by an interrogation, whether the 

 circumstance has been noticed before in Scotland ? I may answer the query 

 by stating, that my personal observation proves it is by no means rare. This 

 Interesting insect is not limited in its choice to one plant. The leaves of 

 Macartney's rose, iliespilus canadensis, P'raxinusO''rnus, &c.,are those, among 

 others, which I have remarked as so singularly scolloped out by its forceps. 

 The summer before last I observed that it exhibited a singular predilection 

 for the leaves of my rose acacias, six of which displayed the most singular 

 configurations, every leaf on every plant being carved and scolloped in an 

 extraordinary manner, and altogether presenting a spectacle at once interest- 

 ing and unique. — J. Murray. 



Blackcock i^^trao tHrix). — A curious variety of the female of this species 

 was shot in August last by Sir Sidney Beckwith on the muirs above Beatock 

 Bridge, in Annandale. The ground colour of the whole bird was a dusky 

 yellowish white, paler on the under parts, with the dark markings of the 

 feathers umber brown. When shot, she had a brood of several young with 

 her. The specimen is now in the collection of Sir William Jardine, Bart. 

 — W.J. Oct. 25. 1828. 



Solan Goose (Sula alba). — A specimen of this bird, in the plumage of 

 the first year, was killed last week a considerable way up Moffat Water, 

 Dumfriesshire. It was taken in a marshy pool by a herd-boy, and seemed 

 much exhausted. There appeared no wound. The distance of the place 

 where it was caught from the sea is about twenty-five miles. — Id. 



Red-breasted Merganser (M^rgus serrator). — Mr. Selby and Sir William 

 Jardine met with the nest of this species in June last, when on a fishing 

 excursion upon Loch Awe, in Argyleshire. The nest was found upon a 

 small wooded island, placed among thick brushwood, under the covert of a 

 projecting rock, and completely surrounded with nettles, long grasses, and 

 fern. It was carefully made of moss, plucked from the adjoining rocks, 

 mixed with the down of the bird ; both in structure and materials resem- 

 bling that of the eider duck. It contained nine eggs, of a rich reddish 

 yellow, or fawn colour. The bird was remarkably tame, sitting until nearly 

 taken with a small hand net. — Id. 



