1904- Notes. 261 



It certainly seems to be prett}' well distributed both in Belfast and 



Dublin, whatever may be the case elsewhere in Ireland. Dr. Scharft's 



Plate referred to is ver}' handy for identifying specimens collected. He 



has kindly verified some of above for me. 



R. Wei^Ch. 

 Belfast. 



Notes on Coleoptera. 



Last year I found a number of Cholcva among potatoes which were 

 stored in an outhouse. Mr. G. C. Champion very kindly examined 

 these specimens for me, and found that the bulk were C. fnsca, Panz., 

 with a few C nigrita, Kr., and one of which he was doubtful, as it was 

 not a good specimen. I took most of these on the walls of the house, 

 but some crawling about among the potatoes and the earth that had 

 been brought in with the tubers. I could not discover whether they 

 were feeding on the potatoes, for I did not see a beetle on a potato, 

 either sound or decayed. This year I have so far only met with one 

 C. fiisca, 



Mr. W. H. Patterson, M.R.I. A., has sent me some more specimens of 

 Hydroporus dorsaiis, F., from Gilnahirk, along with Rhantiis notatus, 

 Agabus rebiilosus, Ilybms ater. He took also some very dark Hydroporus 

 lineatus. 



In the canal near Scarva I took Hyphydrus ovatus and Agabus tmgui- 

 cjilaris, and in my own fields Benibidiiim bruxellense. During a brief visit 

 to Bray, Mrs. Johnson took Rhagotiycha pallida^ Alalthunis fasciatus, 

 Lochmcea suitcralis, and Ceuthorrhyvchus erica on Bray Head : while a few 

 moments' sweeping while driving through the Dargle yielded 6'/ra«^a/zVr 

 aj-mata and Chrysomela Bavksii. The season has been very disappointing, 

 and insects very scarce. I took a day at Lough Neagh, but got nothing 

 worth having, almost the only beetle in evidence being Bembidiutn 

 bipunclatum, which was very plentiful. 



W. F. Johnson. 



Poyntzpass. 



Occurrence of Spotted Crake in Co. Antrim. 



I should like lo draw your readers' attention to a specimen of this rare 

 visitor, the Spotted Crake (^Porzana marueitd), shot on the 8th October, 

 1904, at vSilversprings, near Templepatrick, Co. Antrim, by some gentle- 

 men while out Snipe shooting. It is a very pretty little bird, and it has 

 been beautifully mounted by Mr. Sheals, of Corporation-street, Belfast, 

 where I had the pleasure of examining it. Mr. Ussher, in his " Birds of 

 Ireland," says the Spotted Crake is a rare visitor, occurring chiefly in 

 autumn. It has bred in Roscommon and probably in Kerry. From the 

 same source I gather that two other specimens were brought to Mr. 

 Sheals for preservation, one from Cullybackey on the 8th October, 1898, 

 and the other from Seaford, Co. Down, shot 7th November of the same 



year. 



W. H. Workman. 



Belfast. 



A 3 



