398 Mr John Wilson on some curious Habits of the Rat. 



examples at Eyemouth this season. He has also noted the 

 Silver-striped Hawk-moth {Chcerocampa Celerio), which was 

 caught hovering over Verbenas at Eyemouth ; and last year 

 Sphinx Convolvuli, one specimen, Mr Wilson having got 

 another ; and he reports that Mr Kelly made a fine capture of 

 Celcena Haworthii. Mr J. Anderson's best captures at 

 Preston are : — 

 Chcerocampa Porcellus. Two at Honeysuckle ; two at White 



Campion, along with Diantho&cia capsincola. 

 Sphinx Convolvuli. One in green-house at Billie Mains. 

 Smerinthus Populi. Bred from the caterpillar ; Preston. 

 Thyatira batis. One, June 14 ; one, June 24. Primrose-hill. 

 Plusia chrysitis and P. iota. Abundant. 

 Ptilodontis palpina. One, June 12> Preston. 

 Notodonta camelina. One. Caterpillars pretty well spread on 



Marygold hills, on oak. 

 Tethea subtusa. One, August. Preston. J. H. 



On some curious Habits of the Bat. By Mr John Wilson, 

 Edington Mains, Chirnside. 



I addressed the following letter to the " Daily Review," 

 about the end of November, 1867 : — " Having a plot of 

 yellow bullock turnips from which I intend to raise seed, I 

 yesterday set two men to fill up some blanks with trans- 

 planted roots. While thus engaged, they came upon a rat 

 burrow, around which a good many turnips had been eaten 

 by the rats. They at once laid the burrow open with their 

 spades, and succeeded in unkennelling one large rat which 

 they killed. The uncovered rat-hole presented a very 

 strange sight. A portion of the hole, or gallery, about 18 

 inches in length, with a kind of recess at one end of it, con- 

 tained several hundreds of earth-worms, still alive and 

 wriggling, but so disabled as to be unable to make their 

 escape. In the recess there was a knot of them of the size 

 of a man's fist. The part of the burrow containing this store 

 of fresh provisions was about ten inches from the surface. I 

 am aware that such stores of earth-worms have been observed 

 during summer droughts in the galleries of the mole ; but I 

 have never heard of the common rat eating worms, much less 

 laying up a store of them. It was at first a puzzle to me how 

 rats (assuming them to have been the operators) could 



