Miscellaneous Observations on the Natural History of 

 Long Island, N. Y.^ 



William T. Davis 



The members of the Brooklyn Entomological Society have 

 undertaken the collecting of data looking forward to the ultimate 

 publication of a list of Long Island insects. With this in view, 

 Mr. George P. Engelhardt, of the Brooklyn Museum, and the 

 writer spent some days during September and October on the 

 eastern part of Long Island; and while we collected and recorded 

 many insects, we also noted some other facts of interest. 



The beach plum, Primus maritima Wang., is common on 

 Staten Island in favorable situations, and the purple fruit is much 

 esteemed for preserving. Of this plant we saw many hundreds 

 on the eastern part of Long Island, and as the flavor of the fruit 

 differs considerably on the different bushes, we were always on 

 the lookout for the very best, and of course took many samples. 

 We were surprised, however, to discover, near Promised Land, a 

 little bush about fifteen inches high that bore five plums of a 

 yellow color. One we ate and found it to be perfectly ripe, and 

 the other four were carefully removed and placed in formalin. 

 A stake was driven in the ground by the bush, which was also 

 tagged, and it is our hope to revisit it some future day and see if 

 it still continues to bear yellow plums. 



Conocephalids were often heard as we tramped along and we 

 noted the songs of four species of these grasshoppers and col- 

 lected the songsters. A colony of Conocephalus lyristcs R. & H. 

 was found near Promised Land, thus extending the known dis- 

 tribution of the species northeastward on the island about 85 

 miles. On the downs at IMontauk and near Great Pond, where 

 the wild ducks are so plentiful, we found Conocephalus triops 



' Presented October 15, 1910. 



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