5920 



Quadrupeds, — Birds. 



in accordance with the opinions of the northern entomologists, and had been deter- 

 mined by one of thera. 



The Secretary observed that Westwood had certainly placed it as a lepidoplerous 

 insect many years ago, but in the comparatively recent work, Westwood and Hum- 

 phrey's ' British Moths,' 1845, he had placed it (provisionally it is true) as the very last 

 moth before the plumes, observing that "it should probably be placed nearer to some 

 of the Hyponomeutidae," and giving the presence of a pair of tippets, and a spur at the 

 base of the fore margin of the hind wings, as two characters it possessed which are 

 distinctive of the Lepidoptera. His generic and specific descriptions of this moth, 

 however, are such as to lead to the conclusion that Mr. Westwood had not an 

 opportunity of thorougly examining the Acentropus, the insect being nearly related to 

 the Pyralidae, and having no relationship with the Hyponomeutidae whatever. 



The special thanks of the Meeting was voted to Mr. Brown for his interesting and 

 instructive paper, and, the thanks of the Meeting being voted to the exhibitors for 

 their kindness, the members and friends separated, after having had a regular " red 

 letter" Meeting.— C. S. G. 



Anecdote of a Dog. — Yesterday a dog was brought up from Edinburgh in a 

 steamer to St. Katharine's Docks. It was brought to a gentleman's office by a man, 

 and remained there all day. The gentleman walked home with it to Barnsbury, 

 leading it by a chain, and it was chained up in the coach-house. During the night 

 it slipped its collar and got away. When the gentleman went to his office this 

 morning he found that the dog had been brought there again : it had found its way 

 back to the very ship in which it had been brought to London, having walked all the 

 way from Barnsbury to St. Katharine's Docks. — Robert B. Were ; London, November 

 17, 1857. 



Occurrence of the Great Spotted Woodpecker (Picus major) at Dulwich. — On the 

 6th of the present month a female specimen of this bird was found dead on a hedge- 

 bank in this neighbourhood. To all appearance it had been killed either by a stoat 

 or weasel. I have observed it in this locality before, but it is evidently scarce with us 

 here. The smaller species, Picus minor, is more common. — JC. Wood ; Dulwich, No- 

 vember 13, 1857. 



Nesting of Swalloivs and other Birds. — In a late number of the 'Zoologist' 

 (p. 5790) reference is made to the fact of swallows attaching their nesls to the side of 

 a wall without being supported by a projecting ledge, as is usually the case. A year 

 or two ago a pair of swallows built their nest in a coal-cellar here in the manner de- 

 scribed. The nest was quite open at the top, as swallows' nests usually are, and was 

 attached on one side, to the wall only ; it was placed at the distance of a few inches 

 only from the roof. The brood was reared in safety. It would certainly seem won- 

 derful how the nest could bear them ; but young birds, especially swallows and mar- 

 tins, cannot be very heavy ; and the clay, which they both use alike in the construc- 

 tion of their nests, is very tenacious. The writer has also some remarks on the wren 

 being a late breeder. I have found its eggs in the last week in July, which is, I 



