4' 



THE NATURALIST. 



MANCHESTER LITERARY & PHILOSOPHICAL 

 SOCIETY. 



At the last ordinary meeting, E. Angus 

 Smith,, Ph.D.. F.R.S., &c., president, was 

 in the chair. A notice was given of 



THE HUMMING BIRD HAWKMOTH. 



Mr. Binney, F.R.S., said that he had 

 observed the humming bird hawkmoth, 

 Macroglossa Stdlatarum, during the past 

 summer in far greater abundance than he 

 ever remembered having seen it before. In 

 the month of August he saw upwards of a 

 hundred of them in a garden near Grimsby 

 where they appeared to prefer the common 

 h^vender flower for food to any other in the 

 place. Again in the first week of October, 

 he observed upwards of twenty in a garden 

 at Douglas, in the Isle of Man. Here they 

 preferred to feed on heliotrope before other 

 flowers. It was very interesting to watch 

 these moths hovering over the flowers, and 

 whilst on the wing extracting their food. 

 They appeared very wary and shy after any 

 attempt being made to capture them, but 

 if you merely observed without making 

 any attempt to molest them they would 

 ©ontinue their feeding in confidence, and 

 you could watch them at your leisure. So 

 a great deal of the shyness and caution for 

 which the little creature has got the credit 

 is probably more due to the persevering 

 efforts of its enemies to capture it than any 

 natural fear of man. 



In the microscopical and natural history 

 sections, A. G. Latham, Esq., president of 

 the sections, was in the chair. The fol- 

 lowing objects were exhibited : — Eight 

 mounted specimens of hair of Australian 

 animals for the cabinet ; one of them a 

 species of Phascogale, very remarkable. — 

 Mr. Latham. A large collection of rare 

 beetles from Ceylon, recently presented to 

 the Natural History Society, by — Bray- 

 brook e, Esq., — Mr. Latham. Many speci- 

 mens of remarkable foraminifera from Dog's 



Bay. — Mr. Linton. A sample of the guano 

 lately imported from Maiden Island in the 

 Pacific, for distribution among the mem- 

 bers. — Mr. Latham. Dr. Alcock showed 

 mounted specimens of embryonic shells of 

 mollusca, including fifty species collected 

 by him from Dog's Bay sand, and named 

 by J. Gwyn Jeffreys, Esq. He said he had 

 in a fonner communication described the 

 peculiar characters of Anomia in the young 

 state, and shells of this kind are abundant 

 in the sand. Pectens are also common. 



Hare Eggs. — Few Oologists, I fear will 

 feel much interested in Mr. Sharpe's notes 

 on this subject without further testimony ;* 

 first as to their being genuine specimens, 

 and, what is far more improbable, as to 

 their capture in Norfolk. The first bird in 

 Mr. Sharpe's list, Coccyzus Americanus, is 

 such a rarity in the British Isles, that it 

 appears scarcely possible that a single pair 

 should arrive here, and be allowed to 

 remain unmolested for the purpose of 

 nidification ; at any rate we want 

 greater proof of their having done so, 

 before the statement will be credited by 

 practical Ornithologists. There is just a 

 possibility of the eggs of Tv/rdus saxatilis, 

 being found in this country, but I have 

 seen no evidence to prove it ; certainly Mr. 

 Sharpe gives none. With regard to the 

 others Mr. Sharpe must consider himself a 

 fortunate collector to obtain genuine Bri- 

 tish specimens of the eggs of Arclea 

 minuta, and Oriolus galhula. — Henry 

 Reeks, Manor House, Thruxton, April 

 21st, 1866. 



Yellow Billed Cuckoo. — According to 

 the Rev. F. 0. Morris, this bird has only 

 twice been observed in Britain, — once in 

 Wales, and once in Cornwall. Is R. B. 

 Sharpe, quite sure that his eggs were found 

 in Norfolk ? W. R. Tate, Grove Place, 

 Denmark Hill, London. 



* Naturalist Vol. ii. p. 366. 



