170 The Bearded Tit Experiment at Hornsea Mere. 



over the reed bed, and evidently courting. I brought away 

 a nest from which the young had left a few days before ; and 

 as this is the first that had actually been found by the watchers, 

 and the first-known Yorkshire nest of what may prove a most 

 thriving colony, I presented it to the Hull Natural History 

 Museum. It is the characteristic nest of the species, being 

 composed externally of fiat sedges and reeds, with a thick 

 lining of the old flower-heads of the reed stalk. 



Mr. vSt. Quintin has visited the Mere on two occasions 

 recently, and is naturally highly pleased and justly proud 

 with the success of the experiment. All true lovers of wild 

 birds in Yorkshire owe a debt of gratitude to him for his 

 generosity, and for the time and trouble he has expended in 

 bringing about such a successful issue, and in really adding^ 

 such a delightful and resident species to our county's avi-fauna.. 



Moths of the Months and how to identify them, by the Rev. S. N. Sedg- 

 wick, M.A. London : Charles H. Kelly. 



This is another instance of the attempt of an author to write on a sub- 

 ject of which he evidently knows but little. A very cursor}'^ knowledge of 

 the current literature on the subject, or of the doings of present-day lepidop- 

 terists, would have prevented some of the pitfalls into which he has fallen. 

 For instance, in his instructions on ' setting,' (p. 14), he tells us that ' a 

 large number of species are small and fragile, and only the finest pins must 

 be used ; others are too small for pins and must be gummed on to card.' 

 The ' finest-pin ' notion was that of forty years ago, for nowadays students- 

 use the stoutest entomological pin consistent with the size of the moth ; 

 whilst we do not remember to have ever before heard of even the smallest 

 moths being gummed on to card. Such method is used for beetles, but ta 

 adopt it for moths would be to ruin the specimens absolutely for scientific 

 purposes. And he would be a clever boy who could name his captures 

 from the descriptions. The complete description of Larentia multistrigaria 

 is ' coloured as its name implies ' ; of Fidonia pintaria, ' bright brown 

 with slight fringe of white ' ; of Melanippe fluctiiata ' grey with brownish 

 patches on upper wings,' and so on. Then we are told that the larva of 

 Cheimatobia brumata ' feeds on hedges ' ; that of Hybervia rtipicapraria 

 'on blackthorn and similar bushes,' etc. Of Callimorpha her a we learn that 

 ' occasional specimens are found in England, but its chief habitat is the 

 Channel Islands,' whereas everybody knows that for many years now it 

 has been taken in abundance on the South Devon Coast ; then the next 

 species to it in the book, Deiopeia pulchella, which is one of the very rarest 

 of species in Britain, is noted as being ' not a very common species.' 

 Sphinx convolvuli is stated to be ' rarely found in England, but once fairly 

 common,' when, in fact, it is now no longer regarded as a rarit3^ and last 

 year (191 1), as in other recent years, was quite plentiful in some parts of 

 the south of England. Of the illustrations, many of the more striking 

 species are recognizable, but many are so blurred, that only their shape 

 suggests what they are supposed to represent. The coloured frontispiece, 

 representing the larvae of five of our larger butterflies and moths, is good,. 

 and is a great contrast to the figure of the larva of Arctia caja, which, as 

 represented, is truly a ' fearsome beast.' Enough has been said, though 

 allusion might be made to the almost total absence of generic names, and 

 the not rare errors in spelling. As a cheap little book for children, no^ 

 doubt it will be more or less useful, but it is a pity it has not been written 

 on more modern lines. — G. T. P, 



Naturalist, 



