380 MISCELLANY. 



Penthophera nigricans, Curtis. — I found another of those case-bearing" larvss 

 on a Furze-bush, October 13, 1836, on Knighton Heath, near Dorchester. It 

 fastened to the cage for the winter, and, though in a room with a constant fire, 

 it never moved till April 28. As I was unfortunate with those I had before, I 

 consulted Mr. Curtis on the proper mode of treatment, when he showed me a 

 figure of a Moth, male and female ($, apterous), in a French magazine, which 

 had been bred in France. It is doubtful whether it is the same species, but 



is called Psyche ? — The periodical above alluded to says : — " The larva 



feeds on Lettuce, Solidago virgaurea (and Curtis thinks Dandelion) ; twenty- 

 six days in the pupa state; and the imago appears from the 25th to the 31st of 

 August." My Moth, which is unique as British, was taken by me on a Birch- 

 tree at Parley Copse, June 18, 1824. The other larva? were found on Heath 

 and Furze, Sept. 6, 1831, two on Knighton Heath, and another on Parley Heath, 

 Aug. 20, 1 834, in which, on opening, I found a pupa dead ; but the other died 

 in larva, after beginning to move, as early as March 1832. I have now sup- 

 plied this larva with Dandelion, but I cannot see that it touches it, and I fear 

 for the result. Mr. Stephens gives Geometra alniaria, Linn., as British, and 

 the specimen in the Linnsean Cabinet agrees with Panzer's figure, but I have 

 never seen a British specimen like it. — J. C. Dale, Glanville's Wootton, Dor- 

 setshire, July 9, 1837- 



The Redpoll Linnet (Linaria minor) scratching in the Manner of the 

 Rasores. — During one of those fine days that now and then intervened amongst 

 the miserably cold and cheerless weather of last spring, I was agreeably surprised 

 to see a pair of those beautiful little fellows the Lesser Redpolls (L. minor), 

 busying themselves in picking up various seeds, &c, from among the refuse left 

 by the inundation of the river. What more particularly engaged my attention 

 was my observing them scratching, something after the manner of the Gallinace* 

 ous birds, in order to obtain their food. They were so much engaged in their 

 occupation that they apparently heeded not my presence, although within a 

 few yards of them, so that I had ample opportunity of observing their move- 

 ments, and when I disturbed them they only hovered round for a short distance, 

 and again alighted to resume their employment. As I never before witnessed 

 them feeding except amongst Alder and Birch trees, I do not know if this 

 peculiarity appertains to the species when feeding on the ground. I have since 

 watched many of our Insessorial birds, but in no instance have I been able to 

 detect this habit, which I had hitherto supposed to be strictly confined to the 

 Rasorial order. — J. D. Salmon, Thetford, Norfolk, July 11, 1837. 



Some Account of the Ortolan Bunting (Emberiza hortulana). — In Italy, 

 Germany, and various parts of the Continent, the Ortolan Bunting is an abun- 

 dant species. I am fortunate in being able to give some account of it from an 



