1896.] 87 



NOTES. 



IVI I Id ness of the Season, —Many reports reach us illustrating the 

 remarkable mildness of the present season. Mr. E. A. Praeger reports 

 a Blackbird's nest with two eggs found at Hol3^wood, Co. Down, on 29th 

 January; at the same date the Rooks at Cultra rookery were busily 

 engaged in building their nests. Vcspa germanica was observed on the 

 wing at Limerick, as early as nth February, a specimen having been 

 taken on that date by the Secretary of the Limerick Club. The weather 

 had been very fine and mild for some days previously. Among several 

 reports of early flowers, we may mention that on 2nd February the 

 Scurvy-grass (Cocklearia officinalis) was flowering abundantly on Howth, 

 the blossoms set in luxuriant tufts of succulent glossy foliage. 



ZOOLOGY. 



INSECTS. 

 Death's Head Wloth in Dublin. —A dead but perfect specimen, 

 except for the antennae, of the Death's Head Moth {Acherontia atropos) was 

 found by the children of the caretaker of the now disused Carmichael 

 College of Medicine, Aungier St., Dublin. It lay on the floor of the 

 former dissecting room, and from inquiries as to the dates on which the 

 room was swept, &c., I believe that earlier in this or last year it sought 

 shelter in some cranny and was recently dislodged by the strong winds 

 prevailing about Christmas. The windows are generally open, and in sum- 

 mer the room is much frequented by the children looking for flies, bees, 

 wasps, &c., constantly to be found there dead. Their father, a pensioner, 

 who used to collect butterflies, &c., in the tropics when on service, recog- 

 nised the specimen and saved it from destruction. 



J. AivFRED Scott, Dublin. 



Conepteryx rhamni in Queen's County. — Miss Bewley captured 

 a fine specimen of this butterfly about the end of August last at Dun- 

 more in the Queen's County, which appears to be a new locality, as Mr. 

 Kane in his catalogue only gives Kerry, Galway, and an island in Lough 

 Ree, Co. Longford {Entotnologist, vol. xxvi., p. 120). Another specimen is 

 said to have been seen on the wing at the same time and place. This 

 discovery is interesting, as the Queen's County has been known as a 

 habitat for this insect's food-plant, the Buckthorn {Rhammis catharticus)^ 

 which grows on the banks of the Barrow. 



Georges V. Hart, Dublin. 



An Early Emerg^ence. — A specimen oi Phlogophora metiadosa emerged 

 at Howth on the ist January. The pupa was in a flowerpot in the 

 open air. This bears witness to the mildness of the season. 



GEORGE V. Hart. 



