98 



MR. E. m'lACHLAN ON THE INSECTA COLLECTED 



miraliHs and three females ( $ ), having sent two males and two 

 females to Mr. Eamsay, of Sydney, and Mr. T. A. Gulliver, dor- 

 mant on. 



In every one of the above cases the males had a black head. 



Of P. Gouldice I have five red-headed birds, all of which I have 

 proved, by dissection, to be males, and two females having black 

 heads, also similarly sexed. 



I regret that I have been unable to discover a nest of either of 

 these lovely little birds, although I have devoted much time in 

 searching for them. I still hope, however, to be able to secure 

 young full-fledged birds and to rear them to naturity, and thus 

 solve this point. 



Prom the evidence which I have now laid beforeyou I think you 

 will agree with me that Foepldla Gouldice is a distinct species 

 from PoepJiila mirabilis, and that Mr. Diggles's theory " that the 

 red-headed bird is the female of P. mirabilis''^ must fall to the 

 ground, being incorrect. I hope, ere long, to be able to send the 

 Society more evidence on the subject. 



Eeport on the Insecta (including Arachnida) collected by Captain 

 Feilden and Mr. Hakt between the Parallels of 78° and 83° 

 North Latitude, during the recent Arctic Expedition. By 

 Egbert M'Lachlan, P.E.S., P.L.S., &c. 



[Eead November 15, 1877.] 



This paper concerns the Arthropoda (excluding Crustacea*) of 

 the Voyage of tlie ' Alert ' and ' Discovery ' towards the IS'orth 

 Pole in the years 1875-1876. The collections were chiefly formed 

 by Capt. H. W. Peilden, E.A., who was attached to the ' Alert ' 

 as naturalist ; but several interesting contributions resulted from 

 the researches of Mr. Hart, who occuj)ied a similar position on 

 board the ' Discovery.' Neither of these gentlemen was an ento- 

 mologist. Capt. Peilden had already made for himself a reputa- 

 tion as an ornithologist ; Mr. Hart is specially a botanist. The 

 latter could scarcely have been expected to form any extensive 

 zoological collections, a province that more especially pertained 

 to his colleague ; and I am sure all will agree that the duties could 

 * A Keport on tlie Crustacea collected by the Expedition, by Mr. E. J. Miers, 

 of the British Museum, has appeared in the 'Annals and Magazine of Natural 

 History/ ser, 4, vol. xx. pp. 52-66, 96-110 (1877). 



