326 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



non-nester8. Have seen no Terns, neither Black, Arctic, or Common. 

 Hirundines rather numerous in adjacent villages. Cuckoos numerous ; 

 locally nesting Redshanks show no falling off this season ; Common Sand- 

 pipers were fairly numerous last month. There may be nothing recorded 

 above of any importance, but the bare summary of my observations will 

 show how scanty has been the local record, and may serve for comparison 

 with other districts. — Arthur Patterson (Ibis House, Great Yarmouth). 



ARACHNIDA. 



Rare English Ticks.— The study of Ticks (Ixodidce) has been much 

 neglected in England. Mr. E. G. Wheler, of Alnwick, has, however, 

 recently taken up the subject, and has published, in * Science Gossip,' a 

 series of short papers upon some of our British species. In the hope of 

 inducing others to take an interest in these parasites, I venture to put on 

 record the occurrence in England of two species which have not, so far as I 

 can ascertain, been previously recorded from this country, and of a third 

 which is certainly not common. It is true that Mons. G. Neumann, in his 

 recent monograph of this group, states that he has seen specimens of the 

 first two, belonging to the Bureau of Animal Industry of Washington, that 

 were taken off English Sheep ; but whether the Ticks were collected off 

 Sheep in England, or after their importation to America (which is a very 

 different matter), I am unable to say. I may add that Mr. Wheler took up 

 the study of these parasites on account of their connection with the malady 

 known as " louping ill," which is so destructive to Sheep in some parts of 

 England. It is known, too, that great havoc is wrought amongst cattle in 

 the United States and our own colonies by these pestilent Arachnids ; and, 

 since there are some reasons for supposing that there may also be a causal 

 connection between the bites of these parasites and that deadly tropical 

 disease, " black-water fever," it is safe to predict that within the next few 

 years there will be a boom in Ticks rivalling that in Mosquitoes at the 

 present time. I should be grateful for any specimens readers of ■ The 

 Zoologist ' may come across. They should be preserved in alcohol. 



1. Dermacentor reticulatus, Fabr. — Specimens of this Tick were sent 

 to the British Museum for determination by Mr. Richardson, of Stoke 

 House, Revelstoke, Devon. Mr. Richardson writes : — " These Ticks are a 

 pest of this immediate neighbourhood. They do not bite human beings, but 

 punish Sheep and Dogs like the ordinary Tick. A farmer tells me they 

 were not known here fifteen years ago, and that they appear about January, 

 and disappear about May, being very plentiful in March and April. It is 

 strange that they should not be known a few miles away." 



2. Hamaphysalis punctata, Can. and Fanz. — Specimens of this species 



