Notes, 
51 
Waxwing in Co. Tyrone. 
Mr, Henry Wibon sent me a Waxwing, Anipelis garrulus, shot on 
Christmas Day (191 3) at Stuart Hall, Co. Tj^rone. The bird, which 
on dissection proved to be a male, weighed exactly 2 ounces. This is 
the first recorded instance of this species having been observed in Co. 
Tyrone. 
Hillsborough, Co. Down. Nevin H. Foster. 
REVIEWS. 
INSECT TRANSFORMATIONS. 
The Life-story of Insects, By Geo. H. Carpenter. Pp. 134, with 
illustrations. Cambridge : University Press, 1910. Price is. net. 
This little book is one of the most recent of the excellent series of 
popular Cambridge Manuals of which no fewer than eighty volumes have 
already appeared. Professor Carpenter must have had a most difficult 
task in compressing the essential points of so vast a subject within the 
limits of a book of this size. It is evident that his practical experience 
of the problems of insect life has not failed him in the successful accomp- 
lishment of the task. In nine clearly written chapters, the author reviews 
the life -histories of the various orders of insects, with special reference 
to their wonderful transformations. In the chapter " From Water to 
Air," there is an excellent and well -illustrated account of the changes in 
the life of a typical dragon-fly, and the chapters dealing with larvae and 
pupae of metabolic insects are also of great interest. 
The weird question as to whether we should regard the larval stage in 
the higher insect groups as an indication of the worm-like nature of their 
ancestors, or as an evidence of divergent evolution, is treated at some length 
The author believes, with the majority of students, that " whatever differ- 
ences of opinion may prevail on points of detail, the general explanation 
of insect metamorphosis as the result of divergent evolution in the two 
active stages of the life -story must assuredly be accepted." 
In connection with the development of the insect wing, we should 
prefer the use of the word " ingrowth " to " inpushing " where invagi- 
nation is understood. Another small point is that the use of English 
names for the various leg-segments is scarcely an improvement on the 
generally accepted Latin terms. We have failed to find a single misprint 
in the book, which is printed in the clear type of the series, and is excellently 
illustrated. Some of these drawings originally appeared in Professor 
Carpenter's useful economic reports on Irish insect pests. 
J. N. H. 
