THE YOUNG 



NATURALIST. 



371 



CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARDS 

 THE FAUNA OF PLYMOUTH. 



{By permission of the Atithor.) 



By Mr. G. C. Bignell, M.E.S. 



[Beprinted from the Transactions of the Plymouth 

 Institution and Devon and Cornwall Natural History 

 Society, 1881-82.] 



HYMENOPTERA ; ICHNEUMONIDiE. 



Arranged according to the Eev. T. A. Marshall's Cata- 

 logue, published by the Entomological Society of 

 London, 1882. 



(Continued from page 364.) 

 Ph^ogenes stimulator. Bickleigh, 2nd Sep- 

 tember 



fuhitarsis. Bickleigh, 6th September 



^THECERus (?) This is a genus new to 



Britain, and, I believe, an undescribed 

 species. It was taken by the writer at 

 Exminster, on the 3rd September, 1881 

 Phygadeuon dumeetormi. Bickleigh, 20th 

 August 

 (sreus. Bickleigh, 8th June 

 plagiatoT. Liskeard, 28th August 

 vagdbundiis. Laira, 3rd July 

 gramirdcola. Maker, 27th August 

 nyctTiemerus. Bickleigh, 2nd September 

 erytTirinus. Bickleigh, 6th September 

 CKYVTiiS obscv/ni8. Liskeard, ist September 

 ornatus [GrBv .) . Bickleigh, 2nd Septem- 

 ber. This is a new British species 

 migrator, Weston Mill, 31st August 

 HEMiTELESW'ica^f>r. Bickleigh, 6th Sept 

 fuVcipes. Bickleigh, i6th September 

 areatoT, Bred 21st February from Saw- 

 fly cocoon {IbicMosama hetuleti), found 

 at Bickleigh 

 castaneus Bickleigh, i6th September 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 



Birmingham Notes. August 18th. — A 

 beautiful specimen of the green sandpiper 

 (Totanus ochropus) was shot at Solihull. It 

 is rather uncommon about here, as it gener- 

 ally frequents the sea-shore. It has been 

 sent to Mr. E. F. Spicer, the taxidermist, 

 Birmingham, for preservation, and is the 

 property of Mr. Edginton, an amateur natu- 

 ralist of Solihull. 



While taking a quiet row down the river 

 Yare at Norwich, I saw something swim- 

 ming in the water a few yards in front of 

 the boat. At firstl^sight I thought it was a 

 rat, but being anxious to gratify my curiosity 

 I gave a strong pull, stopping its passage. 

 It came boldly up to the boat, I struck at 

 it with one of the oars, when it dived clean 

 under the water. Thinking it would come 

 up the other side of the boat, I got ready 

 for a second attack, when my friend drew 

 my attention to it getting out of the water 

 on the same side that it had started from. It 

 proved to be a very fine specimen of the 

 stoat. I had evidently wounded it, as his 

 movements were very slow ; but as it was 

 getting late I did not trouble to follow it. 

 Is it a common occurrence for a stoat to 

 take to the water ? I never saw one do so 

 voluntarily except when very hard pressed. 



September 2nd. — A beautiful specimen of 

 a young wryneck (Junx torquilla) was picked 

 up in a wood near Kidderminster by Mr. 

 Seeley of Moseley. He succeeded in keep- 

 ing it alive for a week, when it succumbed 

 for want of its proper food, of which ants 

 are its favourite. In quest of them it 

 traverses the trunks of trees, examining 

 every crevice, and picking them up by 

 means of its long tongue, which is coveied 

 with a glutinous secretion. While feeding, 

 the body is quite motionless, the head only 

 is turned to every side, and the motion of 

 the tongue is so rapid that an ant's egg, 

 which is of a light colour and more con- 

 spicuous than the tongue, has somewhat the 

 appearance of moving to the mouth by 

 attraction as a needle flies to a magnet. 

 They very seldom use their bill, and the 

 action of their head is most extraordinary. 

 It seems to turn completely round and 

 round as though on a swivel when any one 

 approached it. The wryneck is one of our 

 summer visitors. It arrives here about 

 April and returns early in autumn. — A. G 

 Davis, B.N.F.C., Birmingham. 



