Insects. — Birds. 2793 



1 religious fiestas,' about as much to do with religion, as Michaelmas 

 fair has in Leicester. 



" I left Cameta on the 16th of July, five days' passage to Para. 

 The vessel in which I went leaked wretchedly : the owner, who was 

 on board, told me very coolly, that 'it was an old boat the owner 

 had left to rot on the beach, and he bought it cheap.' The men had 

 to be overboard frequently, diving about it, stopping the leak with old 

 rags and clay. However, the owner was gentlemanly and agreeable. 

 I slept outside every night, wrapped in an old sail ; often it rained at 

 night, when I had to turn into an oven of a cabin, lugging the 

 sail with me to keep it dry ; when the rain ceased, no alternative but 

 to turn on deck again to finish sleep. Such are incidents in Amazo- 

 nian travelling. 



" Dr. Angelo procured me a promise of passage into the interior 



with his half-brother, Senor Joao da Cunha, owner of a fine schooner ; 



we were to have started at the end of July, but I have waited until 



now, and the vessel is still here not half laden ; there is not much 



doubt we shall start next week. I go for eight or ten months, and am 



preparing provisions, boxes, ammunition, &c, for that time : my first 



stage is the town of Barra, on the Rio Negro, eight hundred miles 



from here." 



(To be continued). 



Early Appearance of Saturnia Carpini. — On the 13th of the present month I bred 

 a male specimen of this moth. Is it not unusually early for this insect ? — H. Tomp- 

 kins, School Hill, Lewes, Sussex, March 20, 1850. 



Capture of Lobophora polycommaria near Lewes. — I found a fine specimen of this 

 rare Geometra on the 12th iust., at rest on a bush, within a short distance of this town. 

 — Id. 



Capture of Lobophora polycommaria at Darenth Wood, Kent. — I took a fine speci- 

 men of Lobophora polycommaria at Darenth Wood, on Easter Monday last. — P. 

 Bouchard ; 7, North Conduit Street, Bethnal Green Road. 



The Birds of Melbourne. By J. J. Briggs, Esq. 



(Continued from page 2611). 



Peewit {Tringa vanellus). A few pairs of lapwings breed with 

 us annually ; but formerly, before so much attention was paid to the 

 stirring of arable lands during the spring and summer, these birds 



