826 ON THE SKINS OF A DARTER AND CORMORANT. [NoV. 15, 



Haliplus elevatus. ") 



Hyphjdrus ovatus. I 



rt^/^^u/" 1 /^ ■ Eetaiued in the cool for 

 Colyin betes exoletus. J- c.,^ ._i,.-i.;i-._ 



grapei. 



Agabus dispar. 

 Koterus sparaus. J 



future exhibition. 



All these, except the first three, were presented by Mr. W. A. 

 Forbes, having been from Askham Bog, near York. 



On the 22nd of August a specimen of Cholus forhesi ^ was pre- 

 sented by Dr. Wallace of Colchester, who found tliis rare Rhyncho- 

 phore amongst some South-American orchids ; it is now exhibited 

 upon one of these plants in a suitable glass vessel. A specimen of 

 the Great Green Grasshopper (Acrida viridissima) was presented by 

 Mr. Forbes on the same day, but died a few days after. I obtained 

 some more larvse of the Ant-lions early in present month : aud there 

 are still many of their pits exhibited. Some images have also been 

 bred from earlier larvae obtained. 



On September 3rd a number of Helix pomatia were hatched from 

 eggs deposited by the specimens presented by Lord Arthur Russell, 

 F.Z.S., in April last. 



The Rev. Canon Tristram exhibited skins of a Darter and a Cor- 

 morant, and nine eggs of the former bird, procured on the Lake of 

 Antioch, and made the following remarks : — 



"I have the pleasure of exhibiting the skins of two birds procured 

 by me in June of this year on the Lake of Antioch, wliich may be 

 of some interest to ornithologists. The Bahr el Abiad, or " White 

 Sea," as it is called, is the only piece of fresh water of any extent 

 in Northern Syria, and is formed at the junction of several affluents 

 with the Orontes river, in the great plain which extends from 

 Antioch (to witliin a few miles of which city the lake reaches) almost 

 as far as Aleppo. 



" The northern part of the lake is very shallow, and full of hundreds 

 of little islets, being, in fact, rather a marsh than a lake. These 

 islets are covered with reed (Arundo donax) and occasional marsh- 

 shrubs. Ducks and Waders of all kinds abound; and the Common 

 Tern {Sterna hirundo) breeds there. I saw no other Tern, though 

 the lake is not twenty miles in a straight line from the sea; but I am 

 told that several smaller species of Terns are found here. 



" There were many Buff-backed and Squacco Herons and a {qw 

 Night-Herons to be seen. I obtained a few eggs of the Buff-backed. 

 But the most remarkable inhabitant was the Darter of South Africa 

 {Plotus levaillanti), of which I exhibit a male specimen and a few 

 eggs. ^ There is a very large colony of these birds breeding on the 

 islets in society, witli nests in no way differing from those of the 

 Cormorants. Along with them is a Little Cormorant {Phalacroeorax 

 Pl/ffma:us) in some plenty, breeding also in communities, but not on 

 the same islets. I did not succeed in obtaining their eggs. I could 

 ^ Pascoe, Proc. Eut. Soc. 1876, p. xxx. 



