3854 Notices of New Books. 



its two long velvet-black feathers fluttering like streamers behind it, 

 and began to suck at the blossoms of the tree in which I was. Quite 

 regardless of my presence, consciously secure in its power of wing, 

 the lovely little gem hovered around the trunk, and threaded the 

 branches, now probing here, now there, its cloudy wings on each side 

 vibrating with a noise like that of a spinning-wheel, and its emerald 

 breast for a moment flashing brilliantly in the sun's ray ; then appa- 

 rently black, all the light being absorbed ; then, as it slightly turned, 

 becoming a dark olive ; then in an instant blazing forth again with 

 emerald effulgence. Several times it came close to me, as I sat mo- 

 tionless with delight, and holding my breath for fear of alarming it, 

 and driving it away ; it seemed almost worth a voyage across the sea 

 to behold so radiant a creature in all the wildness of its native free- 

 dom."— p. 48. 



Calling Crabs. — " A small stream running through a foetid morass 

 crosses the road about half a mile from Blue-fields, and has deposited 

 a broad flat bank of mud at its mouth, which is uncovered at low wa- 

 ter. At this time it is seen to be pierced with innumerable little holes ; 

 and hundreds of a tiny calling crab (Gelasimus vocans) are running 

 over its surface, the males of which hold up their enormous claw in 

 front, as if in defiance. 



" At the approach of an intruder, every one hastens into his burrow, 

 and in a moment the muddy bank, that was alive with the moving 

 atoms, is perfectly still ; except that a dull-coloured but agile beetle 

 (Cicindela Guadalupensis) is flitting about and alighting upon it. The 

 little crabs are very swift and wary, so that it is difficult to capture 

 them, except by making a sudden rush from a distance among them." 

 —p. 50. 



Glow Flies. — "I will now speak of our other luminous insect, the 

 glow-fly, {Pyrophorus noctilucus). From February to the middle of 

 summer, this beetle is common in the low lands, and at moderate ele- 

 vations. Lacordaire's account of the luminosity of this Elater (known 

 to me, however, only by the citation in Kirby and Spence's ' Introduc- 

 tion to Entomology,' ii. 333, 6th edit.) differs so greatly from the phe- 

 nomena presented by our Jamaica specimens, that I cannot help con- 

 cluding that he has described an allied but very distinct species, and 

 I feel justified therefore in recording what I have myself observed. 

 The light from the two oval tubercles on the dorsal surface of the tho- 

 rax is very visible even in broad daylight. When the insect is undis- 

 turbed, these spots are generally quite opaque, of a dull white hue, 

 but, on being handled, they ignite, not suddenly, but gradually, the 



