I04 The Irish Naturalist. 



intermedms, Holywood ; P. aeneus, Cultra ; P. succicoh, Holy^vood (this 

 specimen is an interesting variety, having only three dorsal punctures 

 on the thorax instead of four, and the whole thorax being finely punc- 

 tured, instead of smooth) ; F. addendus, Holj'wood ; P. cbeninus, Craiga- 

 vad; Oxytclus tetracarinatus, Hol}"\\^ood ; UomaUum excavation, Holywood; 

 Micropejylus 2>orcatus, Holywood (only other records near Belfast (Haliday) 

 and Portmarnock) ; Aphodius depressus, Holywood; Orchestes qucrcus, Cultra 

 Wood ; JSicrrhinus scirpi, Holywood ; Liosoma ovattdiim, Hol}^'Ood and 

 Clandeboye ; Exomias araneiformis {Barypeithes pdlucidiLs), Holywood ; 

 Liophlceus nuMlis, Cultra ; Barynotus obscuriis, Holywood ; B. schonherri, 

 Cultra; B. elevatus, Craigavad. — W. H. Patterson, junr. and W. D. Donnan, 

 Hol}"vvood, Co. Down. 



Abnormai, PhiIvONThi. Among some beetles sent to me for identifi- 

 cation by Mr. W. D. Donnan of Holywood, was a large PMlonthus which 

 greatly puzzled me, I therefore sent it to Canon Fowler and subsequently 

 to Dr. D. Sharp. They decided that it was an abnormal specimen of 

 Philonthus succicola. It is a very curious looking beetle, as it has three 

 punctures in the dorsal series on one side and four on the other, and has 

 moreover the whole thorax very finely and 'closel}' punctured instead of 

 being perfectly smooth. The correspondence about this beetle caused 

 me to mention to Dr. Sharp that I had a curious specimen of Ph. variaus 

 which I had taken at Bundoran in 1890. At his request I sent it to him 

 and he returned it telling me that it was a very remarkable specimen, as 

 it had a puncture short in the dorsal series on both sides of the thorax, a 

 variation which he had never seen in any Buropean specimen before. 

 .Together with this, I sent Dr. Sharp another specimen of Ph. variaus 

 which I had taken in a hotbed in my garden. It was remarkable for the 

 absence of colour in the elytra which were of a ding)^ white. I suggested 

 that this probably arose from immaturity but Dr. Sharp considered that 

 there must have been some other cause than mere immaturity to produce 

 such a curious absence of colour. The proper colour of the elytra is 

 black with a blotch near the shoulder. — Rev. W. F. Johnson, Armagh. 



BIRDS. 



Wood Warbi^er (Pliylloscopus sibilatrix) in Co. Wexford. On 

 July ist a bird-note unfamiliar to my ears — " wicka wicka wee guee guee 

 guee " (with an emphasis on the "wee") — impatiently and repeatedly 

 uttered above my head, caused me to look up and behold a bird which 

 but for its perfectly different song I should have taken for the Willow 

 Wren, busily hopping through the branches of a sycamore, and con- 

 tinuing its monotonous melody with scarcely a break. Though I did not 

 get a good view of its upper surface I have no hesitation in setting it 

 down as the Wood Warbler (Phylloscojnis sibilatrix), a bird which I have 

 not previously seen in this locality, when attention was specially direct- 

 ed to the point, it seemed to me somewhat large for P. trochilus, and to 

 possess in proportion a shorter tail ; but these diiferences are easily im- 

 agined, and it is on the strength of its song that I identify the bird. Has 

 the Wood Warbler been previously seen in the county .?- — C. B. Moffat. 



Woodpecker in Irei^and. Mr. W. Connell's communication (p. 82) 

 is interesting ; but the presence of Woodpeckers in a locality must not 

 always be inferred from the sound of " tapping against trees in silent 

 woods." I have heard this (in Co. Wexford) many times ; but in the 

 majority of such cases the unseen tapper is in fact the Great Titmouse, 

 whose stout back, backed by his sturdy frame, can deal a series of sur- 

 prisingly resonant blows against growing timber, in the bird's keen pursuit 

 of insect prey. It is generally in winter or late autumn that this some- 

 times misleading, but always pleasant sound, attracts my attention, 

 principally, I think, among beech trees. I may add that all our titmice 

 act " Woodpecker " to a certain extent, particularly in severe weather, 

 but Parus major is audible to a far greater distance than any of the 

 smaller species inhabiting this country. — C. B. Moffat, Ballyhyland, Co. 

 Wexford. 



