604 REPORT— 1880. 



The weather, however, was unfavourable ; and the author expressed a hope 

 that the exploration miglit be renewed next summer, in order to examine the faiuia 

 on the northern slope of the Scotch coast, which had been proved to be very- 

 abundant and peculiar.' 



3. On the Relation of the Lepidoptera of Great Britain to those of other 

 Countries. By Captain H. J. Elwes. 



The author pointed out that Great Britain is very poor in the number of specie3 

 of butterflies, compared with almost any part of the Palaearctic region, but is rela- 

 tively much more rich in moths, though deficient in some of the day-flying genera. 

 Secondly, that the number of species in any part of Europe is proportionately 

 greater near the south coast, though in France, Italy, and Austria, the numbei-s are 

 much increased by a large proportion of purely Alpine forms. Thirdly, that the 

 generic character of the butterflies remains unchanged throughout North Asia and 

 North America, though in the former case there is a considerable infusion of Oriental 

 forms in Japan and North-east Asia ; whilst in the southern and warmer parts of 

 the United States are found many species belonging to neotropical genera mixed up 

 with species belonging to the domuiant Palsearctic groups. But on the whole, the 

 butterflies of the United States, and especially of Colorado, are very nearly allied 

 to those of E^lrope, and the differences are not enough to separate the two region;*, 

 so far as butterflies ai'e concerned. 



4. On the Double Malar Bom. By Professor G. Rolleston, M.D., F.R.S. 



6. 0?^ the Classificatiyn of Rodents. 

 By Professor G. Rolleston, M.D., F.R.S. 



6. Oil the ' Drumming ' of the Snipe. 

 By Captain W. V. Legge, iiJ.i., F.L.8., F.Z.S. 



The writer spoke of the interest taken in the snipe's breeding habits, owing to its 

 being such a favourite bird, and to the fact of its disposition during the nesting 

 season being demonstrative and excitable, the very opposite of what it is at other 

 times. Reference was made to the extraordinary noise made by the bu-d when 

 flj'ing over its nest or young, to the variety of opinion as to its origin, and to Herr 

 Meeves's paper, published in the ' Proceedings of the London Zoological Society,' 

 1858, in which a very ingenious theory was propounded, .setting forth the idea 

 that the noise was made by the vibration of the outer tail feather. Herr Meeves's 

 reasons for his theory were alluded to, and his experiment with the tail feather? 

 of the snipe, tied to a wire and stick, and moved through the air, was repeated by 

 the writer, who also gare a description of the feathers in the bird's tail. Mr. 

 Hancock's paper, in the * Catalogue of the Birds of Northumberland and Durham,' was 

 then reviewed, and its author's opinion that the ' drumming ' was made alone by the 

 wings commented upon, as well as his refutation of llerr Meeves's theory noticed. 

 In support of Mr. Hancock's argument that the isolated tail-feather attached to the 

 wire but feebly represents the same feather in its place in the living bird, the writer 

 demonstrated that though a peculiar noise, somewhat like the vibrations heard 

 during the ' drumming ' of the snipe, could be made when the feather was moved 

 to and fro with a radius of motion of 4 or 5 feet, it was not possible to produce the 

 same sound when the feather was moved with a radius of only ^\ inches, which 

 would be all that it would have in the living bird. Mi'. Hancock's statements that 

 the bird descended with firm-set tremulous wings was, however, contradicted by 



' The original p.npcr lias been published in full in Nature for September 2, 

 1880, p. 405. 



