20 The Scottish Naturalist. 



by this bird for its warm nest of feathers and moss, or hay, and if not disturbed, 

 the birds return year after year to the same spot. The quantity of feathers 

 employed in making up the nest is enormous. The eggs (five or six in number) 

 are dark coloured, speckled with brown or black, on a dirty white or grey ground ; 

 some I have are almost quite black. Thus the eggs of the tree sparrow furnish 

 an exception to the almost universal rule that birds which nest in holes or make 

 covered or domed nests, lay white or light coloured eggs. I do not remember 

 another exception among British birds. The tree sparrow is occasionally 

 eccentric in its choice of a situation for purposes of nidification. Twice I have 

 found its nest and eggs in the deserted hole of a sand martin, and in both cases 

 the eggs were very dark, and the nest composed of a greater proportion of moss 

 and hay than feathers.— J. Allen Harker, Glasgow, Nov., 1870. 



Carabus nitens.— I am not aware that the occurrence of this beetle in the 

 West of Scotland has been previously reported. A specimen was obtained 

 last spring, from the hills above Strone, a locality closely resembling Chat Moss 

 in Lancashire, the best known habitat of this most beautiful British Carabus. — Id. 



Acentropus niveus in Scotland— I find this interesting little moth com- 

 mon wherever Potamogeton filifonnis abounds, in Loch Leven, Kinross, and 

 Loch Gelly, etc., in Fife.— J. Boswell Syme, Balmuto House, Kirkcaldy, 

 Nov. 17. 



Capture of Dasypolia templi.— I recently captured two specimens (male 

 and female) of Dasypolia templi among stones in Perth. Has this moth been 

 taken in Scotland before ?— W. Herd, Scoonie Burn, near Perth, Nov. 20. 



[We took a specimen off a street lamp in Perth a few years ago. D. templi 

 has also been taken at Aberdeen, and at Balquhidder in Perthshire, but we 



know of no other Scottish localities for it.] 



J 



Pyroohroa pectinicornis.— I should be obliged to any Coleopterist who 

 could tell me at what time of the year this beetle appears in the perfect state. I 

 have often found the larvae, but have sought in vain for the imago. — R. Hislop, 

 Blair Bank, Falkirk, Nov. 17. 



. 



— 



GENERAL INFORMATION. 



We learn that a work on the "Birds of Scotland," by Mr. Robert Gray, 

 Secretary to the Glasgow Natural History Society, is in the press. 



We hear that Mr. Howie, Secretary of the Largo Naturalists' Field Club, is 

 drawing up, for publication, a Catalogue of the Plants of Fifeshire. 



Paisley Museum.— The work of fitting up cabinets for the reception of the 

 Natural History Collection in this handsome building is rapidly approaching 

 completion, and we look forward with interest to the opening, which is expected 

 to take place shortly. The zoological and botanical specimens are mostly, if 

 not all, British, and will form a valuable reference collection for students. We 

 hope, at some future time, to give a detailed description of the portion of the 

 Museum devoted to Natural History. The large and valuable reference library 

 will contain a choice selection of scientific works. 



