50 [March, 



record is not generally accepted, it appears probable that the identifi- 

 cation was correct, and that the insect is not uncommon throughout 

 Scotland. 



CePHENOMTIA. RIIFIBA.RSIS, Mg. 



Though this species appears to be fairly common in Scotland, 

 Mr. Hinxraan (o£ the Scottish Greological Survey) and myself appear 

 to be the only ])ersons who have met with it alive : as a proof of the 

 abundance of the species in suitable localities I cannot do better 

 than quote as follows from a letter received from the former gentle- 

 man in July last year : — "I was on the Western Cairngorms in the 

 Glen Feshie Forest on June 28th, and saw at least a dozen specimens, 

 but only secured one, having other work to do." Personally I have 

 never met with it in numbers, nor has it ever settled on me in the 

 confiding manner it is sometimes said to do. The first record of 

 capture is that made by Mr. Grimshaw (The Annals of Scottish 

 Natural History, July, 1805, p. 155) of two specimens taken in June, 

 189-1, only a few feet above sea level, by Mr. Hinxman in Strath 

 Carron (Ross-shire) ; as thei'e are specimens in the collections of the 

 British Museum, the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, and 

 Mr. Verrall, all taken by Mr. Hinxman, that gentleman must have 

 met with the species in two or more localities since then. As regards 

 the specimens found by myself, the first was taken on 6/7/98 at 

 Eannoch on Meal Druidhe above the Carie Burn, at a height of about 

 1300 ft., and was flying about rapidly over the heather and bog myrtle, 

 it looked while on the wing like a large burying beetle ; the second 

 was taken on the slope of Cairngorm itself, at an altitude of 3000 ft., 

 on 13/7/99, sitting on a slope of disintegrated granite ; this specimen 

 must have been taken almost in the same spot as that by Mr. Hinx- 

 man, now in the British Museum ; another specimen was seen on date 

 mentioned, but not caught, a result partly due to the high wind, 

 and partly to a plague of Anthomyidce, who were round one in hun- 

 dreds, and quite prevented one's eye following anything else on 

 the wing. 



On this occasion I gave up my climb to the top of Ben Mac Dhui, 

 and devoted my day to searching for G. rufiharhis on the slopes of 

 Cairngorm instead, but with no further result. C. riijihai^lis appears 

 to affect the disintegrated granite slopes, where it sits on the ground, 

 in preference to resting on boulders and stones ; bright sunshine is, 

 however, an essential condition for a successful hunt for it, and the 

 result is more likely to be satisfactory in the month of June rather than 



