THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 139 
I continued to feed him for about a quarter of an hour. 
Taking a turn in the garden the next day, about the same 
hour, I saw the old fellow sitting in the same corner as 
before. The two following days he returned to the same 
place, but the supply of gooseberry-grubs was exhausted ; 
and, as the supply failed, the toad absented himself, and was 
seen no more.” The only birds known to eat the gooseberry- 
grub are the cuckoo and the redstart: the former is ruthlessly 
persecuted as a “vermin;” the latter as a consumer of 
summer fruit. But to return to the toad. It has a propensity 
rarely observed, but very decidedly developed, for a kind of 
insect-food that one would have thought rather too pungent 
for his palate; but a fact was related to me, and published 
as long ago as 1853 in the “ Proceedings of the Entomological 
Society,” which places the matter beyond the possibility of 
doubt. It was stated thus:—“ A stock of bees was observed 
to grow weaker day by day, until at last it became so 
pauperised that the hive was removed, and the bees turned 
adrift to shift for themselves; nothing was amiss with the 
interior of the hive. A second stock shortly afterwards 
exhibited similar symptoms of depopulation, and a suspicion 
was then entertained that some nocturnal depredator entered 
the hive at night and devoured the bees. About two hours 
after dark the hive was visited, with a view to an inspection 
of the interior, but on arriving at the spot with a lantern the 
owner found a large toad squatted on the alighting-board, and 
looking about him with bright and animated eyes. Presently 
a night-roving bee returned home: there was a sudden move- 
ment on the part of the toad, and the bee vanished. A long 
interval of patient watching ensued, when a second bee came 
home: a second movement of the toad followed, and the bee 
again vanished; but the light of the lantern was this time 
thrown full on him, and he was distinctly seen to swallow. 
The toad was caught and killed, and eight still-living bees 
were taken from the stomach.”— Edward Newman. | 
Localities and Collectors —That unworked localities, when 
brought under the vigilant inspection of the entomologist, 
often produce the greatest number of rarities, is an undeniable 
fact; consequently, when we have a few hours to spare, we 
would fain rush off to some locality which we well know has 
been the scene of some grand “take,” whilst we leave our 
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