The Zoologist — August, 1871. 2711 



entrance. The white pith-dust lay on the herbage all along the 

 hedge-bottom from which I gathered the bored sticks. In one, 

 which I slit open, I found above a hundred Aphides in a mass at 

 the furthest end of the excavation ; with them I found several four- 

 winged insects, which I forwarded, with a few particulars, to 

 Mr. F. Smith, of the British Museum : from that gentleman I 

 received the following note : — " This is a most abundant insect, 

 and found in all parts of the country ; it commonly burrows in dead 

 sticks, particularly those of the bramble or rose : its larva is orange- 

 red, and feeds upon different species of Aphis, stored up by the 

 parent insects. Its scientific name is Ceraonus unicolor." It thus 

 appears that the enemies of the Aphides are various and numerous ; 

 still they seem to be totally inadequate to make any noticeable 

 impression on their enormous numbers. At the roots of turnips 

 I observed grubs of Agrotis Segetum and Anthomyia Radicum ; 

 the former was common amongst potatoes. The caterpillars of 

 white butterflies and the caterpillars which infest gooseberry-bushes 

 were not abundant. Crops did not suffer materially from any 

 insect pest except Aphides. It will be remembered that the turnip 

 crop in 1869 and in 1868 was destroyed by Aphides, the abnormal 

 development of which, I suppose, is a consequence of drought: 

 beans, and some other plants that are commonly attacked, escaped 

 them. I noticed the first tortoiseshell butterfly on the 7th of April, 

 and the last admiral butterfly about the 5th of October. 



The spring birds of passage arrived, somewhat irregularly, a little 

 later than usual. Swallows and martins appeared very late, in 

 scanty numbers. The summer was favourable for breeding : there 

 were no heavy thunder-storms, high winds or unseasonable periods 

 of cold rain ; hence many species would rear two broods. Our 

 resident land birds have more time allotted to them for breeding 

 than the migrants : many of them commence about the end of 

 March ; but they probably do not rear a greater number of young 

 in each year, as their early nests and young are much exposed to 

 the rigours of the weather and to the attacks of predaceous animals. 

 The rooks about here do not breed twice in a season. In very 

 stormy weather, in winter, rooks pilfer the grease from the open 

 boxes of the stationary rail way -trucks. About the middle of August 

 large flocks of bank martins appeared here: they were seen hawking 

 in the air, and occasionally alighting on the tops of buildings, till 

 the 4th of September. In October a flock of greenfinches, a 



