92 



The Naturalist. 



down of the caterpillar, I hav^e no doubt in my own mind but that it 

 had received the egg of this fly, or that the attempt had been made to 

 deposit it. After pupation of Ckamomilla, the larva of this fly 

 emerges from it and immediately goes into pupa itself j and in about 

 nine days some of the flies emerge, others remain in pupa till the 

 following spring. The imagos of GJiamomilla begin to emerge about 

 the middle of April, and continue until the last week in May, and, like 

 the caterpillars — they vary much in colour, the dark varieties being 

 produced from the dark larvae, and vice v'ei'sa. 



The larvae of this insect appear to be common all round this district, 

 as the food plant is extremely abundant on the waste lands, railway 

 banks, and on the margin of cornfields ; I have taken it at Wallasey, 

 Bootle, Digburth, Crosby, and in the neighbourhood of Chat Moss, 

 and have heard of its being taken at Southport, Lytham, and Garston. 



Nesting of Stoitechat. — I should be very glad if you or any of your 

 readers would furnish me with any information as to whether the stone- 

 chat breeds annually on any of the moors in the West Riding of York- 

 shire. I know it is stated in most works on ornithology that it is 

 common, and generally distributed, in suitable localities throughout 

 England, yet I have performed several excursions to our neighbouring 

 moors for the express purpose of discovering its habitat, but all my efibrts 

 hitherto have proved fruitless. — E. P. P. Butterfield, Wilsden, Bingley, 

 Dec. 12th. — [The stonechat breeds annually in stony, but not necessarily 

 moorland places around Huddersfield and Halifax, also on the heathy 

 hiUsides about Diggle, as well as in many other similar spots. — Eds. Nat.^ 



Hymenoptera {ante p. 40). — ^On looking over the minute-book of the 

 Huddersfield Naturalists' Society, I find that on Oct. 20th an egg of the 

 red-backed shrike was exhibited, " taken from the neighbourhood of 

 Farnley," which is not more than two miles from the place where Mr. 

 Varley picked up his bees — thus, I think, entirely confirming Mr. Smith's 

 theory as communicated by Mr. Poebuck. — S. L. Mosley, Primrose 

 Hill, December 10th. 



Thuyidium ahietinum m Yorkshire. — I am advised by Dr. Lees to 

 make known in the Naturalist the detection by me of the moss Thuyidium 

 ahietinum in an old disused stone quarry near Wetherby. I send you a 

 specimen of the above, which I have had verified (with his usual kindness) 

 by Mr. Boswell, of Oxford. Since first finding it, I have found it in 

 better condition in another quarry ; it is, probably, therefore, not so 

 rare as has been supposed. Dr. Lees tells me it has not yet been given 

 in any book or list of Yorkshire mosses. Anyone wishing for it can 



