343 * Miscellaneous. 



very interesting results. I should observe that the hooks situated 

 near the base of the wings had not previously attracted my notice, 

 nor do I find any account of them in any of the works, such as those 

 of Dufour or Wesmael, that I have consulted. It is well known that 

 amongst the Hymenoptera are to be found groups which differ greatly 

 in their power of flight : perhaps no order presents greater varia- 

 tion ; every degree of difference is to be found between the rapid 

 Xylocopa; and the lumbering and apparently helpless attempts at 

 flight observable in sawflies, belonging to the genus Dasytheus. It 

 will be obvious to every one that insects of such rapid fligbt as Xylo- 

 copa would require a stronger and more secure fastening or attach- 

 ment of the wings than such insects as Dasytheus, which are amongst 

 the weakest-, worst-flying insects in the entire order ; and such is 

 apparently the case. The very slight examination which I have been 

 able to make gives the following results : — In Xylocopa latipe s\ 

 detect 38 hooks ; in species of Dasytheus, 7-8 and 10 ; in the Ich- 

 neumonidse the numbers are usually (apparently small) 8-10, 12, 

 &c. ; but as yet I have not had an opportunity of paying sufficient 

 attention to this very interesting subject." 



The Fabricius Sea Bull-Head (iVcanthocottus Groenlandicus) . 

 By Sir John Richardson, M.D. 



In the third edition of Yarrell's 'British Fishes,' recently pub- 

 lished, mention is made of the discovery, in Dingle Harbour, of an 

 example of this fish. A second specimen was taken, two years ago, 

 in the basin of the South Esk, at Montrose, from a salmon-net, by 

 WiUiam Beattie, Esq. It may therefore be considered to be more 

 than an accidental visitant to our coast. 



UrIECHIS MICROLEPIDOTUS. 



To the Editors of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 

 Catton Hall, Norwich, March 14, 1860. 



Gentlemen, — I request permission to correct a slight error in 

 the account of the African snake (Uriechis microlepidotns) recently 

 presented by me to the British Museum, and described by Dr. A. 

 Giinther in your last Number. 



The snake was not received by me from Algoa Bay, as stated in 

 the above article, but from D' Urban, Port Natal, having been sent 

 to me by Mr. Thomas Ayres, a very intelligent naturalist of that 

 place, on whose farm the snake was ploughed up, together with the 

 eggs which were sent with it. 



I am. Gentlemen, yours, &c., 



John Henry Gurney. 



