1901.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



IGl 



atrsiressive lureer. he will soou drive awny other more 

 interesting aiid attraotive birds whieh stand, I venture to 

 say, nearer to our affeetious than he does. In the >i'ew 

 Forest, for instanee, the Starling has inereased enormously 

 during the last few years. Everywhere aliout the woods 

 you will tind him and his young screeeh from all the 

 •• likely " holes iu the trees. " The truth is that, with all 

 his clumsiness, the Starling has a keen eye for a good 

 home, and he calmly ap]iro|iriates, or fights for if necessary, 

 the l)est nesting holes. Tlie result is that the Nuthatches 

 ;ind the Great Tits, the former esi>ecially. have some 

 difficulty in finding nesting sites. One would think there 

 was a limitless sujijily of nesting holes where there are so 

 many old trees, but every one who has examined such 

 holes knows that a good iiianv conditions have to be 

 fulfilled befiire a ri'ally dry comfortable place for a nest is 

 formetl. In thi' New Forest the Nuthatches have certainly 

 decreased greatly during the period in which the Starlings 

 have been increasing Personally I would far rather 

 watch and hear one Nuthatch than a hundred Starlings, 

 but what can be done? — H.\rry F. Witheruy. 



Gloisi/ His in Counti/ Durham. (The Is'aluralisf, ilav, 1901, 

 |>. 149.") Mr. T. H. 'Xelson records that a (Jlossy fbis, an 

 accidental visitor to tJreat Britain, was shot near Stockton-on-Tees 

 on November 25th last. 



Ah Obsercational Diarii of the Uabils — moslli/ ilomestic — of 

 the Great-crested Grebe (Podicipes crisiatus). Bv Kdnuiiul Scions. 

 (Zoologist, May. 1901, pp. 161183.) Mr. Seioiis has aheady 

 contributed to the pages of our contemporaiy two |)apers. to which 

 we drew attention (referring to the Xiglitjar and the Stone Curlew). 

 similar to the present one. This article, however, is more literary 

 in style, and is therefore more interesting reading, withowt any 

 deterioration iu seientitie value, than the previous contributions, 

 which were somewhat wearisome by reason of lluir excess of 

 detail. Mr. Selous has made a number of interesting observations. 

 regarding especially the nesting and pairing habits of the Grebes. 

 He comes to the conclusions that the birds pair on the ne.st itself; 

 that the male, in addition to helping the female in building, 

 constructs a platform of weeds at some distance from the nest 

 whereon to re.st ; and that the bird.s usually attack their enemies 

 from under the water. Mr. Selous' theories are less happy than 

 his records of facts. 



All contributions to the column, either in the way of notes 

 or photographs, should he fonvarded to Hakry F. Witherby, 

 at 10, St. (Tirmiins' Place, Blackheath, Kent. 



THE INSECTS OF THE SEA.~IV, 



By Geo. H. Carpenter, b.sc.(lond.), Agsistant in the 

 Mit^fiim of Science and Art, Duhlin. 



BEETLES (continued from pafje 116). 



Another well-marked marine genus of Rove-beetles 

 is Diglossa or Diglotta,|| in which the feelers are 

 relatively long, and the palps of the first maxillae most 

 remarkably so. while thosci of the second maxillae are re- 

 presented only by long bristles. Two species — D. merm, 

 Haliday (Fig. 7). and 1). .unuatlcoUis, Rev, inhabit the 

 British, Irish, French, and Dutch coasts. Elsewheie, 

 Diglotta seems only known on the island of Celebes. In 

 these beetles the wings are reduced, often to very small 

 vestiges. Consequently they do not fly but run actively 

 about in the sunshine over rocks and shingle. D. 

 fiinuaticolliK is said to escape submersion by biiirowing 

 in the sand just above high-water mark in company with 

 the Bledii before mentioned. The beetles make little 



A. H. Haliday. '' Xotes about Cillenum and a sub-marine 

 Species of Aleocharida;." Ent. Mar/., IV., 1837, pp. 251-3. Also 

 yat. Mist. Ret., Vol. II., 1S.56, pi. .3: and Vol. III., 1857, p. 20. 

 G-. C. Champion. " Some Remarks on the two Species of Diglo-^sa 

 occurring in Britain." Ent. Mo. Mag., X.XXV., 1899, pp. 2«')-5. 

 B. Torulin. " Notes on the Habits of Diylolta sinuaticollis." I.e., 



p. 2yo. 



holes about .1 inch dcc|), and dwell therein singly or in 

 pairs. The larva, described and figured by Haliday, has 

 a very large head, and long legs, which are remarkable iu 

 possessing three-scgnf.Mitcd feet (Fig. 6). 



Fig. (). Fig. 7. 



Fig. 6. — Qvah oi Diglotta mer.ia. (After llulidiy.) 

 Magnified 20 times. 



Fio. 7. — Diglotta mersa. Magnilieil 20 times. 



One other genus of marine Rove-beetles must be men- 

 tioned — Micralymma. The European species. A/, 

 brevipeime, Gyll. (Fig. 8), which occurs on the British 

 coasts, and northwards on tlte Continent from Franco to 

 Scandinavia, may be recognised by its comparatively 

 short and broad form. The surface of the body is densely 

 pitted and very finely pubescent. As in Diglotta the 

 wings are much reduced. The insects may be found 

 lurking in crevices of the rocks or walking about on the 

 stones and shingles usually below high-water mark. They 

 are believed to hunt and feed upon the spring-tail 

 Anuridn mnrifiina, which was referred to in a previous 

 article of this series. A good account of the form, trans- 

 formation and habits of this little beetla was given more 

 than thirty years ago by Laboulbcnc.*[ He found that, 



Fig, 9. 



Fio. S. 



Fw. 10, 



Fia. 8. — Micralymma brevipenne. Magnified 10 times. 

 Fio. 9.— Grub. (After Laboulbene.) Magnified l.j times. 

 KlO. 10.— Pupa. (After Laboulbene.) Miignilleil 12 times. 



even at low water the insects were reluctant to leave their 

 hiding-places, and that they made their way over the 

 rocks rather slowly, hardly lifting the large hind-body 

 from the ground. When taken in the hand they re- 



•" A. Laboulbene. "Surles Mceurs et TAnatomie de la Micralymma 

 brevipenne." Ann. Soc. Ent. Ji'rance (.3), VI., 1858, pp. 73-110, 

 pis. I.-III. 



