Vol. Xxiv] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS 37 l 



The Zimmermann Collection of Coleoptera. 



The statement in the Canadian Entomologist, Vol. XXI, p. 53, 1889, 

 that the Zimmermann Collection of Coleoptera is in Harvard College, 

 probably refers to the American species only, as the exotics are in the 

 collection of The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Mr. 

 Zimmermann's Diary and four manuscript catalogues, in which the 

 specimens are numbered in an interrupted series from i to 17351, are 

 also in the possession of the Academy. The numbers omitted may be 

 in the books referred to by Dr. Hagen in his account of this man's life 

 and collection. Mr. Zimmermann's scheme was to give each species, 

 which he received, a number, which was placed on the pin of one 

 specimen, together with a piece of colored paper, using a different 

 colored paper for each additional lot received, whether from the same 

 locality or not. The data in the catalogues consist of the name of the 

 species, from whom received, and when obtained, in Roman letters, and 

 the exact locality, with an occasional remark, in German script. This 

 method saved much time in labeling and was very good until the speci- 

 mens accidentally strayed from the numbered individual or the cata- 

 logues were misplaced. 



Many of the specimens are from Schaum, Sturm, Burmeister, Melly, 

 and Perkins, but very few of the American species have been found in 

 the Academy's cabinet. E. G. VANATTA. 



Mantid Eggs Apparently Eaten by Birds (Orth.). 

 During a trip up Pyramid Mountain opposite Nelson, North Queens- 

 land, August I7th, IQI2, I found nearly a half dozen large eggmasses 

 of a mantid, of the form usual to the common North American species, 

 attached to twigs of young trees and which appeared to have been 

 partly excavated by a bird of some kind; the excavation sometimes was 

 directly into the side, at others longitudinally or axially. The holes were 

 round in outline, subconical and about %-inch diameter or somewhat 

 less. Later, on August 24, I found one of these masses torn into strips 

 and incorporated into the substance of the nest material of an Aus- 

 tralian Robin. Also on August 29, 1912, Mr. Alan P. Dodd called my 

 attention to the nest of a honeyeater which was lined interiorly with 

 the golden yellow-green frothy material surrounding the eggmasses. 

 Thus, it is most probable that birds use this material and other parts of 

 the eggcase for building material, instead of for food. A. A. GIRAULT, 

 Nelson (Cairns), North Queensland. 



Hymenoptera Chalcidoidea Eaten by Birds. 



From the stomachs of several birds shot in the forests about Nelson, 

 North Queensland, to wit, the wren Cisticnlor c.rilis (pteromalids) and 

 the honeyeater? Pseudogerygone species (chalcidids) and several 

 others, a few chalcidoids were taken and an occasional wasp A. A. 

 GTRAULT, Nelson, North Queensland. 



