2502 Insects, fyc. 



Singular Occurrence amongst Bees. — On July 4th, 1812, the following occurrence 

 took place in a small apiary near Melbourne. A swarm rose in the forenoon, which 

 was put into a hive : they continued there a few hours, and then came out again and 

 returned to the original stock. The next day I suppose those that returned were 

 killed and turned out of the hive by the original stock, for thousands upon thousands 

 of dead bees lay strewed upon the ground. The original stock prospered and swarmed 

 the next season. — Id. 



Erratum. — Line 11 of the article " Interesting to Bee-keepers" (Zool. 2437), for 

 41 fts. read 4 fts. — Id. 



Captures of Rare Coleoptera on Leith Hill, Surrey. — Having occasion to see a 

 gentleman in this neighbourhood on business, last week, I took the opportunity of 

 walking back to Dorking by this route, to see if it was possible to meet with any ra- 

 rities in the entomological world : the season hitherto has been very bad, with a cold 

 searching easterly wind, — which we all know is much against collecting, — so that I 

 did not go with much expectation of success. On the side of the hill, a short distance 

 from the monument, which I believe is situated on the highest point, by the side of 

 the road, is a small sand-pit, about a yard square, which when I looked into it was 

 quite alive with small Coleoptera that had fallen from off the heather, &c, above : it 

 was quite deep enough to prevent the possibility of their getting out when once in. 

 In a quarter of an hour I captured the following : — Acalles ptinoides, fourteen ; Tra- 

 chyphlaeus Waltoni, nineteen ; Mycronyx pygmaeus, one ; Omias brunnipes, in pro- 

 fusion ; Leiosoma, apparently a new species, being much smaller and narrower than 

 ovatula, four ; Orobitis cyaneus, one ; Strophosomus limbatus, in abundance ; Agathi- 

 dium seminulum ? in abundance ; Cryptocephalus Moraei, one; Chrysomela varians, 

 one ; &c, &c. I afterwards swept the heath above ; but the wind was so great, from 

 the very exposed situation, I could meet with nothing. The geological construction 

 of this hill is very remarkable : first of all, on the low ground, we have a stiff clay ; 

 then, as we ascend, a light loam ; then sand ; then peaty loam ; afterwards sand ; and 

 finally, on the top, a mixture of all.— Samuel Stevens ; 24, Bloomshury Street, June 

 20, 1849. 



Proceedings of the Zoological Society. 



June 5. — Peter Pole, Esq., in the chair. 



William Compton Domville, Esq., was elected a Fellow. 



Certificates were read in favour of the Earl of Pembroke, William Pennell, Esq., 

 and S. S. Teulon, Esq. 



A report of Council was read, presenting a most favourable account of the progress 

 of the menagerie, to which some important additions had been made during the past 

 month: these included a pair of brush turkeys (Talegalla Lathami) from Australia 

 (this is the bird which was first known to make a great mound or hot-bed, in which 

 the eggs are deposited and hatched by the heat generated by the fermentation of dead 

 leaves, and of which the mound is composed) ; a specimen of the great kangaroo, 

 from Australia ; three lions, received by the Erin, from Malta ; a pair of damans 

 (Hi/rax capensis\ from the Cape of Good Hope ; a Dshiggetai (Equus hemionus), 

 from Cutch, presented by Sir Thomas Erskine Perry ; Sec., Sec. 



