268 



THE NATURALIST. 



Occurrence of tJie Lesser Spotted 

 Woodpecker in the Neighbourhood of 

 Lo7idon. — I have the pleasure of 

 recording that on the lOth Dec. 

 a beautiful female of the Lesser 

 Spotted Woodpecker [Picus minor) 

 was shot at Cookham, and on the 

 26th of Dec. I shot four male 

 specimens of Fringilla montium. — 

 K. B. Sharpe, 186, Strand, Lon- 

 don, Dec. 1864. 



Three Days at Sherwood Forest. — 

 In the early part of August last, I 

 spent three days in the old Forest 

 of Sherwood, which is noted for the 

 many rare and local Lepidoptera 

 that may be taken in it. At Work- 

 sop I met a brother Entomologist, 

 from Sheffield, Mr. Hides ; and we 

 proceeded together on our way to 01- 

 lerton, where we noticed many larvae 

 and pupse of that common beetle 

 Coccinella 1-punctata, on the tele- 

 graph posts, and we found the forest 

 swarming with them. We com- 

 menced work in good earnest by 

 pupa digging, and were soon repaid 

 by turning up Notodonta dodon a, 

 Hadena protea, and Agriopls aprilina. 

 In the evening we commenced 

 sugaring, and found a beautiful 

 specimen of Acronycta leporina, on 

 the trunk of a tree. We sugared 

 the long ride, and our eyes were 

 soon gladdened by the sight of 

 swarms of insects, in many cases 

 literally covering the part of the 



tree on which the sugar was spread. 

 Our first night's captures, omit- 

 ting of course the commoner in- 

 sects, some of which appeared 

 by hundreds, included TriphcBua 

 janthina. six ; T. fimbria, eight ; T. 

 intcrjecta, one ; T. orbona, seven ; 

 Noctiia rhomhoidea, one ; N. Dahliif 

 twenty ; Eujwria fulvago, eighteen ; 

 Amphipyra trago]yogonis, six. As we 

 returned to our lodgings we collected 

 the following insects on the flowers 

 of the Ragwort : Hydrcecia nictitans, 

 twelve ; li. micacea, four ; Heliopho- 

 bus popularis, one ; Cerigo cytherea, 

 one ; Agrotis tritici, six. We arrived 

 at the " Old Jug and Glass," 

 highly gratified with the result 

 of our day's work. Next day 

 the party was increased to seven, 

 by the arrival of Mr. Hicks, 

 from Sheffield, and some friends. 

 We commenced beating for larvae, 

 and ere long had boxed two fine 

 specimens of Stauropus fagi, and 

 several Notodonta dodoncea, Orgyia 

 pudibunda, and Epityra punctaria ; 

 commoner species were abundant. 

 We also took two fine images of 

 Crocallis elinguaria and one of En- 

 nomos erosaria, besides one of the 

 latter in the pupa state. In the 

 evening we were again successful 

 at sugar, taking, in addition to our 

 last evening's captures, Boarmia 

 repandata, and Melanthia ocellata; 

 we also took Luperina cespitis, and 

 Crambus latistriellus, on the Ragwort 



