Zoological Notes. 183 



ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 



By Charles Dury. 



what i found in the nest of a field mouse. 



It is well known to entomologists that some very curious 

 and interesting insects live in the nests of mice and other 

 small mammals. December 13, 1891, I went out to hunt nests 

 of "field mice," in hopes of finding a very wonderful little 

 beetle, called Leptinus testaanis, said to live in such nests. 

 This species was especial desiderata with me, as I had never 

 succeeded in finding it. I went to an old orchard, and under 

 the first log rolled over I discovered a nest and secured a 

 mouse as she rushed out. She proved to be the " Short-Tailed 

 Meadow Shrew " Dlarina brevicatida (Say). The nest was 

 made of small bits of leaves of the "Sycamore tree," lined 

 with grass fibers, and situated in a hole or pocket excavated 

 in the ground. I lifted the nest into the sifting net and sifted 

 it over a sheet of white paper, and was overwhelmed at the 

 result. The fine debris was a jumping, crawling mass of in- 

 sect life, beetles, fleas, ticks and larvae. I gathered and 

 bottled 107 Leptinus, and many ran over the edge of the paper 

 and escaped. There were over a hundred large vicious-look- 

 ing fleas, most energetic biters (as I discovered from those 

 that secured a lodgment in my clothing). How the mouse 

 could live in such a den is a mystery. The other beetles asso- 

 ciated with Leptinus were Staphylinidcs, or "rove beetles" of 

 species new to me, and so far I have been unable to identify 

 them. Leptinus is a small, flat beetle, of a pale testaceus 

 color, one-eighth inch long, without any trace of eyes. 



AvoNDALE, February 2, 1892. 



OCCURRENCE OF THE " PIGEON HAWK," Falco Columbarius, 



IN CINCINNATI. 



A male and female of this hawk were shot on the grounds 

 of the Marine Hospital, Third and Kilgour Streets, December 

 16, 1891. A "screech owl," Scops Asio, was also killed at the 



