108 



THE YOUNG NATURmST. 



songster, being inferior only to the last- 

 named species. 



Flight.-— The flight is seldom of long 

 duration, from bush to bush, or from one 

 clump of briars to another is generally as 

 far as it extends, unless the bird is disturbed, 

 in which case concealment is sought rather 

 than flight. 



Migration. — a Summer migrant, arri- 

 ving here about the beginning or middle of 

 April, and departing again about the middle 

 of September. Occasionally individuals 

 remain through the winter, one in the col- 

 lection of my late friend Mr, James Varley 

 was killed near Huddersfield, on the 26th of 

 January while feeding upon a manure heap; 

 probably a late young bird of the previous 

 year. 



Food. — Small insects of all kinds, also 

 berries, such as raspberry, strawberry, 

 currants, ivy &c. 



In Confinement. — See Nightingale. 



Habitat. — it frequents copses, planta- 

 tions, shrubberies, and similar places, and 

 is a common bird in England and Wales, 

 less frequent in the north, and still rarer in 

 Scotland, but has been found as far north 

 as Orkney. In Ireland it is rare. 



Abroad. — It is met with throughout 

 Europe, except in the extreme north : also in 

 Persia, many parts of Africa, the Cape de 

 Verde Islands, Canary Islands, Madeira, 

 and the Azores. 



Nest. — Is usually placed in a low 

 bramble, or among herbage, from one to two 

 feet from the ground. Sometimes it is built 

 in the centre of a fern. It is composed of 

 dried stems of grass, or other plants, lined 

 with fibrous roots, and sometimes with a 

 little moss or hair. It is very loosely put 

 together. 



Eggs. — The number of eggs is four or 

 five. The ground is greenish white or stone 

 colour» with yellowish olive blotches and 



shades, sometimes inclining to ashy, and 

 with a few darker marks. 



Varieties. — These sometimes occur in 

 which the ground is delicate pink, and the 

 usual markings reddish brown ; white 

 varieties are occasionally met with. 



NOTES ON COLEOPTERA, 

 FOR BEGINNERS. 



By Dr. J. W. Ellis and Mr. Smedley, 

 Liverpool. 



[Errata in Part XL.— On page 87, line 17, 

 for Mixodera read Miscodera ; line 26, for 

 " reddish spots on margin," read " reddish 

 spots or margin."] 



LORICERA. 

 The only British species, L. pilicovnis, 

 easily recognised by the long bristles on 

 the basal joints of the antennae, measures 

 about :^-inch in length, is of a dark bronze 

 colour, and the elytra have each a row of 

 three distinct depressions in the third 

 interstice. The species occurs everywhere 

 abundantly. 



PANAG^US. 



Of this genus we have two species, P. 

 crux-major and P. quadripustulatus. The for- 

 mer is the larger of the two (4 lines), and 

 has the elytra red with the base, suture 

 (narrowly) apex, and a broad band across 

 the middle, black. Th'e latter band, with 

 the dark suture, forms the cross from which 

 is derived its specific name. P. quadripustu- 

 latus is a smaller insect, about 3 lines, in 

 which the ground colonr of the elytra is 

 black, with a red band across the front and 

 a red spot on each elytron near the apex. 

 Both species are principally fen insects, but 

 crux-major seems more widely distributed 

 than its congener, 



CALLISTUS. 



The single species, C. lunatus, one of the 

 most handsome of British Geodephaga, is 

 very easily recognised by the ground colour 



