Birds. — Insects. 6639 



to the belief that it was occupied, if not built, by two pairs of birds, as there appeared 

 to be two distinct nesting corners inside; one was lined with feathers merely ; the 

 other had a few rags, and a torn page of a hymn-book, on which the eggs were lying. 

 The nest was domed. — G. R. Tivinn ; The Elms, Camp Hill, Birmingham, July 9. 

 Notes on the Partridge. — On the 18th of June a friend and I were driving on the 

 lower road from Oxford to Abingdon. On turning a corner we perceived a pair of 

 partridges, with a brood of freshly-hatched chickens, occupying the centre of the road 

 a little distance a-head. The herbage on either side of the road being scanty, offered 

 but little opportuity for concealment ; but the young birds made for the short grass, 

 and, crouching down, became at once invisible. The old birds, however, waited in 

 the road until we drove up, without seeming to evince any trepidation ; and we were 

 so much amused and astonished at their audacity that we drew up to see what they 

 would do. The male bird ran up and clown by the side of our gig, uttering a low 

 sibilant cry, drooping his wings, and every now and then running towards our pony, 

 as if with the intention of attacking him. The female bird remained nearly sta- 

 tionary by the spot where her young ones were hid, occasionally calling to them with 

 a soft "cluck," like a hen calling her chickens. When we drove on again the male 

 bird ran along the road before us, with his wings drooping, and his neck stretched far 

 forward so as almost to touch the ground with his head. He evidently imagined that 

 we were pursuing him, and thought, cunning fellow, by so decoying us on to lead us 

 from the spot where his family was concealed. When he had led us some hundred 

 yards or so, he triumphantly rose on the wing, and swept back to calm the fears of his 

 wife and her young brood. Such extraordinary boldness on the part of birds gene- 

 rally so timid as the partridge is a proof how great a change parental storge can effect 

 upon their habits. I may also mention that a short time since I saw a partridge sit- 

 ting on her eggs on a railway-bank. I was in the train at the time, and looking down 

 saw the bird sitting quietly while the train thundered on close to her. — Murray A. 

 Mathews ; Merton College, Oxford, June 20, 1859. 



Description of the Larva of Eupilhecia coronata. — This larva is, I think, the pret- 

 tiest of all the genus. It is excessively variable in colour, so much so that it was not 

 till I had repeatedly bred the insect that I could believe that such different-looking 

 larvae could produce the same moth. The following are some of the principal varie- 

 ties: — Var. 1. Ground-colour yellowish green, with three reddish dorsal lines, the 

 centre one interrupted, and sometimes enlarged into a chain of lozenge-shaped spots, 

 the two side ones very indistinct. Body, when closely examined, very slightly hairy. 

 Var. 2. Ground-colour one uniform sea-green. The dorsal lines and spots wholly or 

 almost entirely wanting. Var. 3. Ground-colour greenish yellow, with a series of rusly 

 lozenge-shaped dorsal spots or bars. The sides and belly more or less suffused with 

 rust-colour. Segmental divisions bright yellow. Var. 4. Ground-colour bright yel- 

 low, with a series of broad dull red dorsal bars, intersected and bordered by lines of 

 the same colour. Sides and belly thickly clouded with red. This larva is somewhat 

 different in gait and shape from those of all the other Eupithecia?, and resembles that 

 of H. rupicapraria. Tts favourite food is the petals of Clematis Vitalba, from which 

 plant it may be beaten in some plenty from the middle of July to the middle of Au- 

 gust. I have also beaten it from the flowers of the hemp agrimony (Eupatorium can- 

 nabinum), the golden rod (Solidago Virgaurea), and the wood Angelica (Angelica 



