1906.] 24S 



Ahr. (generally in very damp nests) ; Q. mesomelinus, Marsh. ; 

 Xantholinus fjlaher^^ovAm. (four specimens in two nests, Hunting- 

 field) ; Ilapalarcea pygmcea, Pk. 



I liave mentioned above a nesting box I put up in my garden to attract 

 starlings. In spite of some repetition I think it will be of interest to give my notes 

 on the contents of tliis nest, as it is probably very much the history of any starling's 

 nest in this neighbourhood. Before nailing up the box I put in it a small amount 

 of wood dehrin to make the conditions more resemble nature, and to help to keep 

 the nest damp. I did not look at the box until the young birds had flown, and the 

 first examination was on June 13th. My notes read : — 



13/6/06.— Young birds just flown. Nest rery dirty and damp. 1 Philonthus 

 fuscus, several Microglossa pulla, Gnathoncus rotundatus, Hister merdarius 



Momalota nigricornis. 

 ^Ij^jOQ. — Took another Philonthus fuscus. 

 29/6/06. — No Microglossa pulla now present. 

 7/7/06. — 1 P. fuscus, 1 Quedius hrevicornis, 1 Choleva colonoides, 3 Microglossa 



pulla (two immature) ; many cocoons of the last species at the bottom of the 



nest all containing imagines. Damped nest and put in wood dust and swallows' 



droppings (the damping of the nest was quite necessary ; a nest in a hollow 



tree does not dry up so easily. The swallows' droppings would correspond to 



bats' if bats had succeeded the starlings). 

 11/7/06.— Very many M. pulla. 

 1517106. — Very few 31. pulla. Contents now strongly amraoniacal, probably from 



the addition of the swallows' droppings. Also present Homalota nigricornis, 



and several small larvae of P. fuscus. 

 26/7/06.— 2 Microglossa marginalis, many larvae of P. fuscus, no M. pulla. Damped 



nest again. 

 24/8/06. — Several P. fuscus and very few H. nigricornis. 

 7/9/06 — A few P. fuscus and many H. nigricornis. 



I unfortunately took Quedius hrevicornis and one or two other species when 

 found ; it would have been better to have left everything. 



Bradfield, near Reading : 

 Sept. 9th, 1906. 



PROGRESSIVE 3IELANISM .- 

 FURTHER NOTES ON HASTULA HYERANA, Mill. 



BY T. A, CHAPMAN, M.D. 



Plate III. 

 In the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine for 1905 I gave some 

 details of the habits and life history of Rastula hyerana, and reported 

 the appearance of a melanic form at Hyeres that had not previously 



X 2 



