Dr. J. Waterston on Ceratophyllus vagabundiis. 455 



fragments of insect remains are fixed to the surface of the 

 stone, and in one case two small fragments of flint (Fig. 1) 

 are firmly embedded in the outer wall. 



Something more than i"»ibbling of the haw by a mouse 

 must have been required to produce such conditions, and 

 a probable cause is not far to seek. Field-mice are known 

 to frequent the defecating places of thrushes, to feed on 

 fruit-stones found there, and it is from such a source, I 

 believe, that the present sample originally came. 



The seed of the hawthorn is frequently destroyed by a 

 Phytophagous Chalcid {Syntoniaspis dnipamm, 'Boh.), a 

 species which also attacks apples, sometimes to a serious 

 extent, and is, in fact, known to economic entomologists as 



h 



Fig. 1. — Hawthorn stone, showing end bitten off, and two 

 fragments of flint, embedded in outer wall presumably in passing 

 through the alimentary tract of a bird. //. flint, //. hilum, m. 

 micropylc. 



" The Apple Seed Chalcis," The Chalcid has in this country 

 been bred from hawthorn stones knov/n to have passed 

 through blackbirds, and hatching may take place even 

 so late as the second spring from the falling of the fruit 

 to the ground. The pupal envelopes of the Syntoniaspis 

 (especially of the $) are rather distinctive structures, and, 

 though I had no expectation of discovering a living speci- 

 men, it seemed worth v/hile to examine the interior of 

 some of these stones on the chance that recognisable 

 fragments either of the Syntoniaspis or its pupa might be 

 found. 



Several of the stones were plainly empty, but one seemed 

 to be a more promising subject for investigation. The 

 stone selected for opening (Fig. 2) was apparently com- 

 plete, but showed a large micropylar perforation (m). 



