150 The Irish Nairn alisi. June, 



ZOOLOGY. 



Late appearance of Vanessa io. 

 The Rev. C. I^. Garuett, of Ardtrea, Co. Tyrone, captured a Peacock 

 liutterfly in the churchyard at Tynan, Co. Armagh, on November 27th, 

 1901. Not having a net he captured the; butterfly with his hat, and 

 brought it to me very little the worse of such a rough and ready mode 

 of capture. 



W .F. Johnson, 

 Poyntzpass. 



Bombylius canescens. 



I have been interested by Col. Yerbury's account of the habits of this 

 fly {supra, page 77), because some years ago I made some observations on 

 Bombylhis in the same direction as the Colonel — /.<?., to ascertain upon 

 what Hymenopterous genus it was parasitic. 



Early in June, 1896, I took several specimens of a Bof?tbylms, probably 

 canescens, in a gravel pit at Sandyford, Co. Dublin. These were all 

 females. When taken they were hovering near the nests of an Andrena 

 {A. nanci) and a Sphecodes {S. subquadrattts^. I did not see them enter the 

 burrows of these bees as Volucella enters the nests of t^^/z^/^wj, but they 

 frequently alighted for a moment at the entrance of the burrow, when 

 the bee had passed in. Several Halicli {mono, subfasciattts, &c.) had their 

 burrows in the neighbourhood, but I did not observe any Bombyiius 

 near them. But in July, 1S97, I captured several Bombylii in Stillorgan 

 Park about the burrows of Halictns rtibiciindus and H. villosulus. So I 

 conclude they are somewhat promiscuous in the matter of hosts. 



H. Gore Cuthbert. 

 Dublin. 



Owl V. Starling. 



The other evening I heard a tremendous row going on in the ivy on 

 the gable of this house. At first I could not make out what it was, but 

 on listening, I recognised the cry to be that of a Starling. I ran round 

 to see what the matter was, and on turning the corner of the house saw 

 an owl fly out from the ivy ; I could not be sure of the species, but as 

 well as I could judge by the light of the lantern I was carrying, it was a 

 Barn Owl. Immediately after the retreat of the owl, a Starling fluttered 

 down. I followed, picked it up, and found it bleeding from its bill and 

 very weak. I placed it in safety on a window-sill, and as it was nowhere 

 to be seen in the morning, I conclude it recovered from the effects of its 

 fight. I was not aware that an owl would attack as large a bird as a 

 Starling, and though it would be quite able to overcome the resistance 

 offered by the Starling, it did not in this case return to the attack, for I 

 kept a look-out, and the owl has not returned. 



W. F. Johnson. 



Poyntzpass. 



