7 



more keenly sought after by all insect-eating birds than 

 possibly any other group of insects. Unfortunately the remains 

 were so frequently found in a fragmentary condition that identi- 

 fication was, in many instances, quite impossible ; for this rea- 

 son and the fact that many species are injurious to cultivated 

 plants they are all included under group i. The destructive 

 genera Anthonomus, Apion, Sitones, and Otiorhynchus occur 

 among the records ; and the Marsh Tit (No. 153) is responsible 

 for the capture of some specimens of the Apple Blossom Weevil 

 (Anthonomus pomorum) which is so destructive to fruit blossoms 

 in many parts of Cheshire and elsewhere. Members of the other 

 genera are likewise destructive by " girdling " the twigs of 

 the rose and removing the bark from the raspberry, destroying 

 young crops of beans and peas, clover heads, and other things. 



Flea Beetles (Halticidee) . — Many examples of one of the 

 Turnip Flea Beetles (Phyllotreta nemorum) were found in the 

 Blackcap (No. 54), which the bird may have taken from either 

 field or garden crops. There are also some interesting records 

 of the occurrence of this pest and its still more destructive 

 relative (P. undulata) in six examples of the Tree-creeper. 

 Judging by the data and the habits of the bird the insects were 

 probably secured from the crevices or from behind the semi- 

 detached bark of trees or posts or similar habitat. 



Bark-boring Beetles (Scolytidae*). — Judging from these 

 records it would seem that the larvae of these beetles are eaten 

 chiefly by Woodpeckers. It is very doubtful if any other 

 British bird could extract them from their burrows. See 

 also Field Note on the Lesser-spotted Woodpecker (p. 63). 



Moths and their Larvae (Lepidoptera) . 



Surface Caterpillars (Noctuae). — The most noteworthy 

 records of these insects were obtained from the five young 

 Rooks (Nos. 358-360, 363, 366) and the nestling young of the 

 Starling (Nos. 398-402). Reference has already been made to 

 the insect dietary of the latter (p. 2), and the summary of the 

 Field Notes (p. 58) shows very clearly what an enormous number 

 of caterpillars are eaten by the nestling young. As to the Rook 



* In a communication to the Rev. Canon Fowler (Address read before the Ent. 

 Soc, London, 15th January, 1902), I inadvertently placed these insects with the 

 Rhynchophora in the order of frequency of occurrence. — R. N. 



