popular Btrttanaqi of &mmatrtr flaturc. 419 



very 

 of C 



and widely distributed group of Coleoptera ; 

 of which the well-known and destructive 

 Cockchafer (Melolontha vulguris) is the type. 

 [See COCKCHAFER.] 



MELOPSITTACUS. A sub-genus of the 

 Parrot family, fouud in Australia, which 

 contains 



The MELOPSITTACUS UNDULATUS, or 

 WAKBLIXG GRASS-PAREAKEET. We learn 

 from Mr. Gould that this lovely little bird 

 is pre-eminent among the numerous mem- 

 bers of the Parrot family in Australia, both 

 for beauty of plumage and elegance of form : 



it is alp . remarkable for its sprightly and 

 animated manners. It is believed to be ge- 

 nerally dispersed over the central parts of 

 Australia, but so exclusively an inhabitant 

 of the vast inland plains that it is rarely 

 seen between the mountain ranges and the 

 coast. They breed in the hollow spouts of 

 the large Eucalypti, and may be seen in 

 flocks of many hundreds feeding upon the 

 grass-seeds that are found in abundance on 

 the plains. The nature of their food and 

 the excessive heat of these plains compel 

 them frequently to seek the water ; but be- 

 fore going to drink, they settle together in 

 clusters on the neighbouring trees. Their 

 flight is remarkably straight and rapid, and 

 is generally accompanied, by a screeching 

 noise. During the heat of the day when 

 sitting motionless among the leaves of the 

 gum-tree, they so closely assimilate in colour 

 as to be detected with difficulty. The breed- 

 ing season is at its height in December, and 

 by the end of the month the young are 

 generally capable of providing for them- 

 selves ; they then assemble in vast flights, 

 preparatory to their great migratory move- 

 ment. The eggs are pure white, in number 

 three or four, and are deposited in the holes 

 and spouts of the gum-trees without any 

 nest. They are particularly interestiing as 

 cage-birds ; for, independently of their 

 highly ornamental appearance, they have a 

 most animated and pleasing song ; besides 

 which, they are continually billing, cooing, 

 and feeding each other; and their inward 

 warbling is constantly heard from morning 

 to night. 

 The young gain their full livery in about 



eight months, the sexes being precisely alike 

 in the colouring and marking of their plu- 

 mage. Forehead and crown straw yellow ; 

 the remainder of the head, ear-coverts, nape, 

 upper part of the back, scapularies, and 

 wing-coverts pale greenish yellow, each 

 feather having a crescent-shaped mark of 

 blackish brown near the extremity ; wings 

 brown ; the outer webs of the feathers deep 

 green, margined with greenish yellow : face 

 and throat yellow, with a patch of rich blue 

 on each cheek, below which are three cir- 

 cular spots of bluish black ; rump, upper ' 

 tail-coverts, and all the under surface bright : 

 green ; two centre tail-feathers blue, the re- ' 

 mainder green, crossed in the middle by an 

 oblique band of yellow ; irides straw white ; : 

 nostrils bright blue or greenish blue and 

 brown ; legs pale bluish lead colour. In a 

 state of nature they feed exclusively upon i 

 grass-seeds ; but in confinement they thrive i 

 equally well on canary-seed. 



MELYRID^. A family of Coleopterous 

 insects, haying an oblong or ovate body, soft, 

 and but slightly convex : the palpi are short, 

 filiform, and pointed at the tip ; the thorax 

 rather convex ; and the antennas moderately 

 long, serrated, nodose, or pectinated in the ! 

 males of some of the species. These insects 

 are generally of small size, and very gaily 

 coloured, green and red being most conspi- ! 

 cuous. They may be ordinarily found upon [ 

 flowers, us they frequent them for the sake i 

 of the insects which they find there to feed ! 

 on. Some of the species of the British genus 

 Malachius have the anterior angles of the j 

 thorax and the base of the abdomen fur- | 

 nished with several red bladder-like ap- 

 pendages, which the insect is able to contract 

 or dilate at will ; it may therefore be pro- 

 vided for the purpose of increasing or de- 

 creasing its gravity during flight, or be used 

 as a portion of an apparatus for emitting an 

 offensive effluvium. The exotic genera are 

 few, and exhibit no remarkable features. 



MEMBRACIS: MEMBRACnXE. (Tree- 

 hoppers.) A genus and family of Hemip- 

 terous insects, in many respects resembling 

 the Cicadidce, but they enjoy the faculty of 

 leaping, which the Cicadas do not. This 

 faculty does not, as in the grasshoppers and 

 other leaping insects, result from an enlarge- 

 ment of their hindmost thighs, which do not 

 differ much in thickness from the others ; 

 but is owing to the length of their hinder 

 r to the bristles and spines with 



shanks, o 



which these parts are clothed and tipped. 

 spines serve to fix the hind legs se- 



Thes 



curely to the surface, and when the insect 

 suddenly unbends its legs, its body is 

 launched forward in the air. Some of them, 

 when assisted by their wings, will leap to the 

 distance of five or six feet, which is more 

 than two hundred and fifty times their own 

 length ; in the same proportion, " a man of 

 ordinary stature should be able at once to 

 vault through the air to the distance of a 

 quarter of a mile." Some of these " leaping 

 harvest-flies " have the face nearly vertical, 

 and the thorax very large, tapering to a point 

 behind, covering the whole of the upper side 

 of the body, and overtopping even the head, 



