53 



giving a list of the food-plants and the Aphids said to attack them. 

 The importance of the information is increased by the fact that the 

 majority of species of Aphids are confined to certain definite food-plants, 

 so that the determination of any one species is made more easy when 

 the food-plant upon which it occurs is known. 



CusHMAN (R. A.). U.S. Bur. P^ntom. North American Ichneumon- 

 flies, new and described, with Taxonomic and Nomenclatorial 



Notes.— Proc. U.S. Nat. Mns., Washington, D.C., Iviii, no. 2334, 

 1920, pp. 251-292. 



This paper includes corrections to Viereck's " Type Species of the 

 Genera of Ichneumon-flies " R.A.E., A, ii, 182] and many additions 

 to the author's previous papers. Descriptions are given of one new 

 genus, one new subgenus and 23 new species of Ichneumonids, and 

 three new species of Braconids. 



Among the new species are Phaeogenes arcticiis, parasitic on Peronea 

 sp. on spruce and hemlock ; Spilocryptus propodemn, parasitic on 

 Polychrosis viteana, Clem. ; Phthorima extensor, taken from an Aphid 

 gall on witch-hazel ; AngHia galleriae, a parasite of Galleria mellonella ; 

 Pristomerus ocellatiis, said to have been reared from stems of Polymnia 

 uvedalia, infested b}' the weevil, Rhodobaenus tredecimptinctatiis ; 

 P. mimittis, reared from a Cecidomyid gall on juniper ; and 

 P. {N eopristomerns) melleus, reared from Gelechia sp. on tobacco and 

 from Elasmopalpus lignosellus. 



The new Braconids are : — Bassus acrobasidis, from Acrobasis sp. on 

 pecan ; Orgilus gelechiaevora, from Gelechia trialbamaculella ; and 

 Habrobracon erucarnm, from Euxoa sp. 



Fletcher (T. B.) & Ixglis (C. M.). Some Common Indian Birds : 

 no. 5. The Golden-backed Woodpecker {Brachyptemus aitrantins) . — 

 Agric. Jl. India, Calcutta, xv, part 5, September 1920, pp. 481-484, 

 1 plate. [Received 7th December 1920.] 



Brachyptemus anrantius is common throughout India and Ceylon 

 up to elevations of 3,000 to 4,000 ft. Ants form a considerable portion 

 of its normal food. In Eastern Bengal these woodpeckers also feed 

 on the larvae and pupae of the Longicorn, Hoplocerambvx spinicornis, 

 which infests sal {Shorea robusta), and in Madras they frequent the 

 toddy palms, probably because of the presence of Oryctes rhinoceros 

 and Rhynchophoriis ferritgineus. They are also often seen on dead 

 branches of sissu infested with the. termite, Coptotermes heimi. These 

 birds are protected by law throughout the whole year in Bengal, 

 Burma, Madras, Bombay and Assam. 



Henry (A.). Danger to Sitka Spruce from Chermes cooleyi.- — Gardeners' 

 Chron., London, Ixviii, no. 1768, 13th November 1920, p. 242. 



Attention is drawn to the continued spread of Chermes cooleyi on 

 Douglas fir in Britain. As this Aphid is a dangerous enemy of Sitka 

 spruce in British Columbia, steps should be taken to have any suspected 

 material investigated. 



Colli NGE {\\. E.). The Rook: Its Relation to the Farmer, Fruit 

 Grower and Forester. — Jl. Minist. Agric, London, xxvii, no. 9, 

 December 1920, pp. 868-875, 4 figs. 

 An account is given of the methods of expressing the percentages 



of the various items of food found in a bird's stomach, so that by 



