THE YOUNG 



NATURmST. 



21 



additional information respecting the occur- 

 rence of the species. 



We have thus given some little detail of 

 the course we propose to pursue, subject to 

 any modifications or alterations that may 

 seem to be improvements. Our readers 

 will greatly assist by their early communi- 

 cations, as the further our plans are matured, 

 and the more advanced are our prepara- 

 tions, the more difficult will they be to alter. 



We must also ask our readers kind 

 assistance in another way. Though the 

 number of British insects is so large, that 

 at the rate at which we are commencing 

 to issue the catalogue, a hundred years will 

 not nearly exhaust the supply of species to 

 figure.we may yet find considerable difficulty 

 in keeping the issue going ourselves. Two 

 pair of hands can do a great deal, but 

 Editorial and other duties take up much 

 time, and the hours we can devote to 

 collecting are somewhat restricted. Besides 

 we have not opportunity for being every- 

 where, and there is probably no locality to 

 which some species is not confined. The 

 neglected orders are collected by few, and 

 if our readers would only preserve what 

 they meet with of insects they do not want, 

 and forward them to us at their convenience, 

 we would not only be greatly obliged, but 

 they would probably be the means of adding 

 many unknown species to the British Fauna, 

 perhaps species new to science. All such 

 assistance will be duly acknowledged in its 

 proper place, and we will be pleased to 

 make return of such insects as the sender 

 may collect. Instructions for setting insects 

 of various groups will be found in the two 

 last volumes, and we will send the numbers 

 containing such instructions to any one not 

 possessing them. If however the collector is 

 unable to set such specimens, or has not 

 time to do so, we shall be glad to have them 

 unset. Any notes of when and where the 

 examples sent were obtained will always 

 be of great value. 



A few remarks on the plates issued will 

 be given each month, but the Coleoptera 

 will be so fully discussed in the papers by 

 Messrs. Ellis and Smedley, that we need 

 but make any brief comments here. 

 COLEOPTERA, Plate I. 



Sixteen species of Coleoptera are given in 

 this plate. They all belong the group called 

 Geodephaga or Ground Beetles, from their 

 habits when in the perfect state. The 

 papers by Dr. Ellis and Mr. Smedley, which 

 are commenced in this number, render 

 lengthy comment here unnecessary. None 

 of the species figured are very rare, and any 

 of them are likely enough to be in the hands 

 of beginners. Most of them are tolerably 

 distinct, and the figures, with the account 

 of them in the papers, should enable every 

 one to name their specimens. Carabn^ 

 violaceus and eatenulatus are very like each 

 other, but violaceus has the elytra smoother, 

 longer, and narrower, and the fore tarsi are 

 broader and flatter. C. manilis and neTnoralis 

 are also similar, but monilis is broader, 

 especially on the thorax. The others do not 

 seem to need special remark. 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 

 ORNITHOLOGY. 



Eagle in Herefordshire. — I was much 

 interested by Miss Decie's account of the 

 golden eagle attacked by crows, and think 

 it may interest her and others to hear of a 

 somewhat similar occurrence. On October 

 25th, 1876, I was walking through Berring- 

 ton Park, near Leominster, and was attrac- 

 ted by the peculiar noise made by some two 

 or three hundred rooks flying round a large 

 cedar-tree, and on looking to see what they 

 were after, saw an immense bird sitting on 

 one of the boughs. The bird almost im- 

 mediately flew away, with all the rooks after 

 it, making a most discordant noise. I had 

 no idea what the large bird was, but a few 

 days afterwards heard that a " white-tailed 



