SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



53 



Mr. Carrington's list of varieties of five-banded 

 British land-shells is now ready. See page of 

 Advertisements. 



Nesting Site of Lark. — From time to time 

 notices appear in nearly every newspaper of 

 strange nesting-places, but few seem more extra- 

 ordinary than a lark's nest at a railway station. 

 On the platform of the South Canterbury Station, 

 in a bed of pinks, on one of those carefully-kept 

 flower-borders which always tend to make a 

 station interesting and help to while time away 

 when waiting for the train, a lark at the present 

 time is busily engaged attending to the wants of a 

 hungry brood. The nest is not well concealed, 

 and is within a foot of the bustling steps of every 

 passer-by. Curious as indeed the site may be, it 

 is rendered more remarkable inasmuch as a 

 clover-field adjoins the station on the one side, and 

 a hay-field is close at hand on the other, either 

 being usual places for nesting of these birds. — 

 H. Mead-Briggs, Canterbury ; May igth, 1896. 



Rare Fly, Hilara. — In connection with your 

 excellent paper, Science-Gossip, I believe you 

 undertake to identify specimens for the convenience 

 of your readers. I have availed myself of this 

 opportunity. The query specimen is a small fiy of 

 a brownish colour and about 1-5 mm. in length, 

 which I found when looking for Collembola in the 

 ordinary surface-soil of a field. At first I mistook 

 it for a small beetle, but on capturing the specimen 

 and placing it under a low power of the microscope, 

 I perceived that it had six legs, and two pairs of 

 wings. One pair resembled the " halteres " of the 

 Diptera, the other pair were much dwarfed in size, 

 and were totally incapable of lifting the insect into 

 the air. They retained, however, the appearance 

 of wings, and were not quite flat upon the abdomen 

 of the insect. Another feature was the occurrence 

 of two small swellings upon the first pair of legs. 

 They were of a light colour. As I was at the time 

 turning over the loose earth I was unable to 

 determine whether it was running about on the 

 surface or whether I turned it over from the soil. 

 Soon after completing a rough sketch of the insect, 

 I unfortunately crushed it between two slips of 

 glass, while intending to make it into a slide, but 

 of course was thus prevented from doing so. I 

 send the sketch, however, which sufiiciently shows 

 the peculiar character of the wings. Could you 

 give me any indication as to its name ? — F. E. 

 Hawkins, 39, Farm Road, Sparkhrook , Birmingham ; 

 May 14th, i8g6. 



[The very excellent sketch sent by our corres- 

 pondent indicates a Dipterous fly of the genus 

 Hilara, probably the scarce //. manicata. There 

 are about twenty British species in this genus, of 

 which the swollen limb is the character. Being 

 small in size and obscure in their habits, they are 

 possibly considered more rare than is the case. 

 They are carnivorous, feeding on Collembola and 

 small insects, including individuals of their own 

 kind. Abortive wings are common among the 

 Diptera and Lepidoptera. — Ed. S.G.j 



Lord Lilford. — We have to announce with 

 great regret that the Right Hon. Thomas Lyttleton 

 Powys, fourth Baron Lilford, died at Lilford Hall, 

 Oundle, on June 7th. He was one of the 

 most accomplished ornithologists of his time, and 

 had formed a beautifnl collection of British and 

 foreign birds. He also possessed a considerable 

 number of living birds and animals at Lilford 

 Hall, which were a great source of scientific 

 interest and pleasure to Lord Lilford, who un- 

 fortunately suffered from a physical affliction 

 which precluded his taking very active part in 

 either politics or county matters. He was, 

 however, a Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological 

 Societies and President of the British Ornithologists' 

 Union. Lord Lilford caught a chill about a 

 fortnight before his death, and unfortunately his 

 delicate constitution was not able to throw it off. 

 He was twice married, and is succeeded by his 

 son and heir, the Hon. J, Powys. Lord Lilford 

 had considerable literary ability, and has published 

 several works of importance upon birds. One of 

 his last works, indeed, the last published, was upon 

 the birds of Northamptonshire. 



Peter Inchbald. — This well-known naturalist 

 died at Hornsea, in Yorkshire, on June 13th, at the 

 age of eighty years. He was a F.L.S., F.Z.S. and 

 F.E.S. Son of Dr. Inchbald, of Ardwick Hall, 

 near Doncaster, Peter Inchbald was a well-known 

 entomologist, his especial groups being the leaf- 

 mining Hymenoptera and gall-gnats. He also 

 took much interest in ornithology and was an 

 excellent botanist, and had studied plants during 

 many visits to Southern Europe. Mr. Inchbald 

 was a schoolmaster and resided at Storthes Hall, 

 Huddersfield ; also at Hovingham and Harrogate. 

 Some years ago he retired to Hornsea. His demise 

 removes a well-known and interesting lover of 

 Nature. 



Bruce Findlay, for nearly forty years Curator 

 of the Royal Botanical Gardens belonging to the 

 city of Manchester, at Old Traft'ord. has died in 

 his sixty-second year. Though, perhaps, more of 

 an horticulturist than a botanist, Findlay was 

 the means of introducing to the notice of 

 Lancashire botanists many plants of great interest. 

 He was born at Streatham, near London, and early 

 got an engagement in the Thames Nurseries. He 

 then removed to Kew Gardens. Soon afterwards 

 he went to the North of England and held 

 situations at Hull and Sheffield. He was, at 

 the early age of only a little more than twenty- 

 three years, a candidate for the appointment of 

 Curator, at the Royal Botanic Gardens at 

 Manchester. This he secured, largely through the 

 influence of Mr. Charles Carrington, father of the 

 editor of this magazine, who was a member of the 

 Committee of the Manchester Botanical Society, 

 which then possessed the gardens. Findlay was 

 one of the earliest to introduce public aquaria for 

 exhibition purposes, he having erected two octagon 

 tanks in the gardens, under the advice of the late 

 Mr. Philip Henry Gosse. 



