March, 190T.] 49 



in rabbit, dog, hedgehog, once in sheep and once in crow ; the second species is 

 abroad during the same months and in Angiist, in cow, dog, rat, rabbit, pigeon and 

 owl ; the last kind is found in hedgehog, crow and pigeon in April, May and 

 September. 



Four kinds of Necrophorus have occurred in carrion, and it is still a mystery 

 to me what N. vespilJo feeds upon ; the commonest kind is N. humator with eight 

 appearances, four in April and two each in Augu^^t and September, in rabbits thrice, 

 mole, weasel, sparrow-hawk, crow and pigeon, nearly always when suspended. 

 iV. mortuorum has also been noted eight times from April to September, in mole, 

 rabbit, jay, sparrow-hawk, twice in pigeon and thrice in hedgehog, with no preference 

 for the keeper's trees. N. rtixpator I have seen six times, but only from June l7th 

 to September 23rd in rat, jay, sparrow-hawk, pigeon, gull and rabbit. N. vestigator 

 is much more uncommon and has only occurred singly, four times in May, June and 

 August in rat, mole, rabbit and "bird." In Suffolk, Necrodes Uttoralis has not 

 occurred since 1862 ; but I once took it abundantly in a foal of the New Forest 

 ponies in May. None of the rare carrion Silpha: have fallen to my lot ; 8. rugosa 

 is our commonest species with nineteen appearances varying from March to 

 September, four times in moles, four in rabbits, once in slow-worm, twice in rats, 

 once each in sparrow-hawk, hedgehog, sheep, pigeon, fish and thrice in crows ; 

 <S. sinuafa and 8. thoracica have been equally common with eleven appearances 

 apiece ; but as regards individuals the former is far more prevalent, in moles thrice, 

 crow once, rabbits four times, hedgehog twice and fish once ; 8. thoracica has been 

 found in rabbits twice, crows four times, mole once, sparrow-hawk once and hedgehog 

 twice ; both are commonest in April. Eight kinds of ChoJeta have been noted, 

 though four of these, C. Icirby! in crow in April, C. fumata in pigeon in May, 

 C. morio in dog in April and C. nigr'da in rabbit in September, have only put in 

 a single appearance ; C. tristis, noted seventeen times, seems the commonest spe- 

 cies, abounding in November, January and February (not noted in June or 

 August), in eight rabbits, four crows, and single weasels, rats, pigeons, cats and 

 " bird." C. chryaomeloidex is a good second, with thirteen appearances mainly in 

 May, though a few were taken in November and February, in nine rabbits, two pigeons, 

 a rat and a cat. C.grandlcolUs I have thrice seen, always in rabbits, in May and June 

 and September. There are seven records of C. ivatsoni, in two rabbits, a rat, two 

 pigeons, a crow and a " bird." Equally common is Ptomophagus sericeus, from 

 March to May only, in three rabbits, a mole, two crows and on April 29th, 1895, 

 investigating a dead earth worm. 



The "mimic " beetles, Hister and Saprinus, are the last of the group ; they are 

 often seen abundantly, indeed, H". cadaverinus has put in thirteen appearances from 

 April to August, in six rats, three rabbits, a hedgehog, cat, sparrow-hawk and fish; the 

 only other Hister noted (four times) is IT. succicola, from April to June, in rabbit, 

 mole, pigeon and crow. iS. a^.neus was thrice common in rabbits and a cod's head 

 in May, June and August, and «S. rugifrons once turned up in a hedgehog in the 

 middle of May, though iS. nitidulus is by far the most abundant of the genus, being 

 always common, on four occasions in rabbits in May and September and once in a 

 hedgehog. 



