248 COCKCHAFERS IN 1835, 



of Donegal, that numbers of these insects were then 

 appearing at Ormean, the residence of that nobleman. 

 As the distance does not exceed a mile from Belfast, 

 I walked out in the afternoon of that day, to witness 

 the fact for myself — the best mode in every department 

 of Natural History. I was shown, at the aviary, a large 

 bowl of cockchafers, both male and female, which had 

 been collected a few hours before ; I was then con- 

 ducted along a gravel walk, through which the in- 

 sects had forced themselves when emerging from the 

 pupa state, and coming to the surface. The holes 

 made by them along the walks, and the borders at 

 either side, were so numerous, that one would almost 

 have thought the place had been exposed to a heavy 

 downward fire of musquetry. The walks had been 

 made above nine years, been in constant use during 

 all that period, and received, occasionally, an addi- 

 tional coat of gravel. How wonderful, then, must 

 the strength of the beetle have been, when it could 

 force itself through this compact and indurated mass ! 

 Yet, that it did so, admits of no dispute. The fact 

 was first noticed by the Marquis himself, who, being 

 then in rather delicate health, spent much of his 

 time amid the walks of his own demesne. It was 

 afterwards confirmed by the observations of several 

 other witnesses; and the condition of the walk, inde- 

 pendent of any other evidence, would be proof suffi- 



