20 NOTES ON THE AMAR^E. 



the ulnar metacarpal, and is inserted into the edge of the third or little finger, which 

 is so firmly attached to the second as to have no independent motion. The action 

 of this muscle, therefore, is to draw the fingers backwards. 



31. — Supinator or extensor digiti fills up the space between the two metacarpal 

 bones, and is inserted fleshy into the base of the first phalanx, and by a tendon 

 into that of the second: It pulls the second finger upwards and backwards. 



By this complex apparatus, then, the wings are made to perform all those 

 powerful, delicate, and varied motions, necessary for ordinary flight, for escape, 

 pursuit, and the numberless inflexions used every day by birds in their usual 

 avocations. These motions will be better understood by inspecting the figure 

 than by following a laboured description, and still better by dissecting the wing 

 of a Pigeon, or any other bird of moderate size. 



The flight of birds has not been hitherto described further than in the vague 

 and general manner in which it is treated in anatomical works, and in the descrip- 

 tions of ornithologists. It exhibits, however, a vast variety of modifications, 

 some of which I shall endeavour to describe in a future communication, to which 

 the present will answer as a basis. 



NOTES ON THE AMARJE. 



By Peter Rylands, Esq. 



In many cases it is a very difficult matter to decide correctly the rank of 

 individual specimens of insects, extraordinary varieties may so often be mis- 

 taken for species. These can only be tested by examining a number of individuals 

 of the species, and should there be found specimens which vary in such a manner 

 as to form a connecting link between the supposed species and the established one, 

 the true value of the former is at once understood. An example of this may be 

 found in the genus Pontia. If you examine a true P. metra, and a true P. rapce, 

 the appearances greatly favour the supposition that they are distinct species ; but 

 should you meet with specimens in which the characters of P. rapes and metra 

 are so blended and united, as to create a doubt to which species they belong, you 

 would instantly decide that the one was a variety of the other. In like manner, 

 and for the same reason, Pontia Chariclea must rank merely as a variety of 

 P. Brassicce. Thus, also, many naturalists are of opinion that Hipparchia 

 polydama is a distinct species, whereas it is merely an extraordinary variety of 

 H. Davus. I am led to this conclusion from having taken, last summer, on 

 Woolston Moss, near here, where II. Davus is abundant, a specimen which ex- 

 hibited characters both of the Davus and polydama. 



