NOTES. 63 



the head were well marked. The measurements were as 

 follows : — Length, 44 inches ; wing, 21 inches ; tarsus, 8| 

 inches; weight, 11 pounds. The stomach was completely 

 filled with equal parts of pebbles and grit, and the remains 

 of the large tipulid larva {Tipula oleracea), of which fifty- four 

 examples were almost perfect, the largest measuring 1| inches 

 in length. Besides these, there were also the remains of four 

 Elaterid beetles {Agriotes sp.) and a freshly caught larva 

 belonging to the same group, but not, apparently, of the same 

 genus ; there were also fragments of the dung beetles ApJiodius 

 fimetarius and Geotrupes sp., and two oat glumes. Colonel 

 T. J. Long has very generously presented the specimen to the 

 Grosvenor Museum, Chester, where it is highly valued, and 

 forms an extremely interesting addition to the local collections 

 preserved in this institution. 



Alfred Newstead (Curator). 



Cranes of various kinds are often kept in semi-captivity with cut, 

 and not pinioned, wings (c/. ante. Vol. I., p. 91), and frequently escape 

 when they grow new quill feathers, and then show no signs of captivity. 

 We have, therefore, asked Mr. Newstead to make a more critical 

 examination of the contents of the stomach of the bird above recorded, 

 in the hopes that this might prove its origin. Unfortunately, the 

 contents of the stomach do not greatly help us. 



Mr. Robert Newstead kindly writes : — " As to the insects taken 

 from the stomach, I can only confirm what my brother has stated in 

 his letter to you. I have given these a most criticial examination, and 

 find that they are all indigenous species ; and the majority had been 

 captured by the bird within a few hours of its death. With the ex- 

 ception of the larva of the Agrotid beetle, they are all common and 

 widely distributed species ; and are as abundant in Anglesey as in any 

 other part of the British Isles," 



Mr. .J. Lomas (lecturer in Geology at the University, Liverpool) has 

 very kindly examined the stones, and finds them to represent the 

 following : — 



Specimens. 

 Quartzite and vein quartz white . . . . . . 485 



Flints 40 



Quartzite and sandstone . . . . . . . . 39 



Chalcedony . . . . . . . . . . 19 



Pottery and porcelain . . . . . . . . 10 



Slates 5 



Granites, hornblendic . . . . . . . . 6 



Mica schist . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 



Micaceous sandstone . . . . . . . . 1 



606 

 Mr. Lomas adds : "It would seem that the Crane selects the stones 

 on account of their brightness. In a general assemblage of stones they 

 are all such as would strike the eye at once, 516 of the stones being 

 white in colour. It is difficult, if not impossible, to state where the 

 stones come from. The quartzite are universally distributed. The 

 only distinctive ones are the granites, and they certainly do not come 

 from Anglesey, The flints are brown, and resemble southern types. 



