32 The Irish Naturalist. 



The Robin bears no resemblance to any British bird, further 

 than the Thrush family-likeness. The red breast, black 

 head, white throat, grey back, with darker wings and tail, 

 are very distinctive. The female differs but little from the 

 male, but the young, when they first leave the nest, are more 

 brown, with the breast spotted. 



IRISH KNTOMOI.OGY. 



BY W. F. Ti% V. KANK, M.A., F.K-S. 



Untii, quite recently we have been almost wholly indebted for 

 any published information on the subject of Irish Entomology 

 to English naturalists. For although Haliday made some 

 collections of Diptera and Coleoptera, chiefly in Ulster ; and 

 Tardy, Greene, and Bristow, of I^epidoptera in Wicklow, and 

 Mrs. Battersby in Westmeath, and Mr. Fetherston-H, in 

 Mayo, yet their captures were not at all comparable to the 

 results of the labours of Birchall, Bouchard, Wollaston, Bar- 

 rett, and numerous occasional collectors, who from time to 

 time crossed the Channel to test the capabilities of this country 

 for supplying English museums and private collections. 



Of late years, however, a recrudescence of zeal in this branch 

 of natural history has been displayed by Irish naturalists, and 

 a host of contributions have swelled the lists in the pages of 

 entomological serials. But our knowledge is still scanty in 

 nearly all the groups, and unfortunately it cannot be said to 

 rest upon reliable data, for the earlier collections, notably those 

 of Tardy and Birchall, have disappeared, or been merged with 

 British ones, so that in most cases it is now impossible to 

 refer to their original specimens. It is also undeniable that 

 a large amount of error has crept into the lists published from 

 time to time, owing to the acceptance of unreliable statements 

 without enquiry. One of the latest of these lists of Irish 

 captures appeared in the British Naturalist of December, 1889, 

 on the authority of Mr. Gregson of I^iverpool, whose name 

 should be a sufiicient voucher for scientific accuracy. This 

 list purports to be a record of Mr. Curzon's captures in Ireland 

 during the preceding season. It so happens, however, that I 

 have letters and data of Mr. Curzon, which throw some doubt 



