HERTFORDSHIRE NATtTRAL HISTORY SOCIETY. XVU 



the Society who could do so to search at St. Albans next summer for this Succinea, 

 which would be found with the two common British species, S. putris and S. 

 ekgaus ; and he said that he would always be j^lad to assist any couchological 

 members in the determination of this and other Uertfordshii-e laud and fresh-water 

 mollusca. 



2. " Note on the Pupation of the Sta£?-beetlo, Leucanus Cerviis.^^ 

 By Arthur Cottam, F.ll.A.S. {IVansactioHs, Vol. I, p. 83.) 



3. " On the Appearance of Nudaria mundana at Harpenden." 

 By John J. Willis. 



Mr. "Willis stated that on the eveniu"^ of the 13th of December, which was a 

 tolerably warm night, succeeding a number of excessively severe frosts, soon after 

 the lights were lit in his room, an immense swarm of moths appeared against the 

 panes of the window. A few were caught and were found to be of the species 

 Nudaria mundana, Linn. After a short time they took to flight and were not 

 again seen. 



4. ''iSTotes on Birds observed in 1879." By John E. Littleboy. 

 {Transactions, Vol. I, p. 70.) 



5. "On the Abundance of Moles in the Neighbourhood of Much 

 Hadham." By the Rev. H. S. Mott, M.A. 



Mr. Mott mentioned that at Much Hadham moles had been showing great 

 activity this winter. He had resided in the neighbourhood about GO years and 

 had never seen such quantities of mole-casts in the fields and roadsides as at 

 present. He inquii'ed whether this was generally the case, and what was the 

 cause. 



The President said that it had been generally observed that moles were very 

 numerous this season, and that he had heard the explanation given that the worms 

 upon which they fed were abundant in consequence of the wet summer and 

 autumn. Whether or not moles really did any harm to a field was an interesting 

 question, and he thought that if the mole-heaps were spread and raked the mould 

 might be useful as a top-di-essing. Another question was as to whether their food, 

 the worms, did harm. Some said that worms eat the fibres of the roots of grasses 

 and other plants, and others, with more reason, that they had no organs capable 

 of biting roots. They certainly swallowed large quantities of earth in order to 

 extract nourishment, animal or vegetable, from it. 



Dr. Brett said that even if a wet season were not conducive to the existence of 

 many worms, the air being moist the worms woidd come to the surface of the 

 ground, and the moles need not go so far in search of them. He had noticed the 

 abundance of mole-heaps, but thought that it did not necessarily follow that moles 

 were unusually abundant. 



Mr. John Hopkinson remarked that, with regard to the seasons, after six months 

 of unusually wet weather there had been nearly four months unprecedentedly dry, 

 the present month, and October, November, and December last year. That being 

 the case, he thought that moles might now have to work harder than usual and so 

 make more mole -heaps on account of the scarcity of their food, or the difiiculty 

 in getting it, rather than its abundance. 



Mr. J. E. Littleboy said that he had never before seen so many mole-heaps in 

 the neighbourhood of Hunton Bridge, as he had this winter ; and 



Mr F. W. Silvester stated that the moles were also unusually busy at St. 

 Albans. 



A photograph of Professor Draparnaud, a celebrated French con- 

 chologist, was presented to the Society by the President. 



Mr. F. Littleboy and Mr. F. W. Silvester were appointed 

 auditors of the accounts for 1879. 



