THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



117 



III. Anthophilidx contains three or 

 four species in two genera, most of them 

 excessively rare. None of the species ex- 

 pand over an inch, and all fly by day. The 

 larvae have but twelve legs, and sometimes 

 the rudiments of another pair. The pupa 

 is in a cocoon on the surface. 



IV. PHALiiNOiD.*: contains but two spe- 

 cies in one genera. The imagines have 

 rather broader forewings, with the usual 

 markings; they are very much alike in 

 appearance. The larvae have sixteen legs, 

 but four of them are but rudimentary-. 

 They feed on trees, and the pupa is in a 

 cocoon under bark, or among moss, &c. 

 By Dr. Staudinger these insects are placed 

 last in the group, being followed by the 

 Geometrina. 



QUADRIFID^. 

 The second group is of very limited ex- 

 tent in Britain, scarcely numbering thirty 

 species. It is divided into four sections — 

 Varisgata, Intrust, Limbata. and Ser- 



PENTIN.E. 



VARIiEGATiE includes two families and 

 fully half the species. In general appear- 

 ance the imagines are more like the usual 

 Noctua type than the last group of the 

 Trifidjb. 



I. Plusid^e contams about a dozen spe- 

 cies in two genera. The imago often has 

 metallic spots or blotches on the fore wings, 

 sometimes it has raised scales round the 

 stigmata. The larvai of one genus have 

 only twelve legs, and are rather attenuated 

 towards the head. Of the other the larvae 

 have sixteen legs, one pair being but rudi- 

 mentary. The pupa is in a silken cocoon 

 among moss or on the food plant. 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 



Bv W. H. B.\TH. 



House Martins (H. Urbica). — At a farm- 

 house I was visiting, a house martin built 

 its nest inside a porchway over the door 



and was a great nuisance, making such a 

 deal of dirt by dropping mud from the nest 

 while building. It was only six feet from 

 the ground. As fast as the people of the 

 house removed the nest the martin built it 

 up again. They at last succeeded in driving 

 it away. Last sumn.jr some new houses 

 had not quite been finished before a pair of 

 martins came and chose their residence on 

 one of them. 



Swallows {H. Rustica). — One fine day in 

 May I observed several swallows catching 

 white butterflies {P. rapiz). Perhaps it was 

 from the scarcity of their ordinary food. I 

 have often seen them pass each other within 

 a few inches without the one devouring the 

 other. 



Wild Swans when flying at a considerable 

 height look exactly in the shape of a cross 

 A few were accustomed to pass over in the 

 neighbourhood of Birmingham a few sum- 

 mers ago. I was told they frequented a 

 pool at HampsteaJ. I believe they were 

 A . Ferus. 



Rooks fly at night occasionally as well as 

 in the day-time. I have often seen them 

 after eleven o'clock p.m. in the summer 

 I time, and sometimes seen the whole flock 

 I fly round and round their nest trees cawing. 

 Rooks are very difticult to kill, and if wound- 

 ed have the power of flying a long distance, 

 so that the sportsman can rarely get hold of 

 them. Rooks will not desert a rookery with 

 any amount of shooting at, they will only go 

 away if their nests are plundered. Mr. P., 

 at Handsworth Hall, dismissed one of his 

 servants for climbing up a tree and taking 

 their eggs out of a nest. 



Cuckoos are very plentiful at Sutton id 

 the summer. There is something about 

 their voice that seems very peculiar. A 

 short time after midsummer they drop their 

 notes one by one, till the time when they 

 have to depart they can not be heard at all. 

 As, for instance, when they first arrive in 

 this country they call "Cuckoo, Cuckoo." 



