102 



The Natuealist. 



and at York, od the meanders of the Ouse probably. There is likewise 

 an unseasonable occurrence in the fourth month, provided the E-oman 

 numeral be not transposed, of an autumnal sort, A/taOulia ju^rvoxa. 



Being in possession of the titles of our books, let us turn to the 

 biography within ; for, without a knowledge of the latter, entomology 

 is likely to expire in the mephitic air of the heirloom of verbiage 

 Now, evidently the rarity is either an importation into this country, a 

 relic of a state of things that is dying out, or its distribution is 

 imperfectly made out ; and the untimely occurrence in the dearth of 

 miracles may point to two annual appearances on the Wey. Then as 

 to love or strife. Here is a sly and portly Pliryganta (jrundis. female I 

 believe, who when poked from a slimy crevice of my rustic bridge, was 

 as filthily redolent of excrement as any lace wing. Being naturally not 

 too particular, I applied a pocket lens at the time, and brought into 

 view certain clear drops that were exuding from a scent-pore beneath 

 the fourth segment of the abdomen. Another autumnal Trichopteron 

 I netted flying near a rivulet in the island of Bute, possessed a piquant 

 zest for honey ; its name, I learn, is Anaholia yieivoaa. What senti- 

 ments can insects associate wdth aromas to us so opposite ! 



"Before taking my leave, I while away a little time looking over my 

 friend's collection. I learn that Enoecyla pusilla has an apterous female 

 that waddles over the rushes — (and where will yon find a tribe of 

 insects in wdiich this trace of domesticity is wanting ?) — and likewise 

 that we have an insular dwarf which attains to great dimensions in 

 parts of the Continent, and in Switzerland becomes mottled. The 

 first of these peculiarities, in Afiynachius Cfsnosus^ is by no means 

 startling, since the size of a species merely depends on the amount of 

 food consumed in the immature or larval form ; and this will depend 

 on the climate, annual sunshine, or nature of the food, as may be 

 easily made a matter of proof or observation. 



Binfield House, Guildford. 



LOCAL BIRDS OF THE WILSDEN DISTRICT. 



By E. p. p. Butterfield, 



The following list (with a few notes) of some of the scarcer or more 

 local birds which breed annually, or which have bred within recent 

 years in this district, may be consideoed of sufficient general interest 

 to justify their publication. Such a list, even if but a short one, will 

 better serve as a basis to the ornithologist from which to draw a just 

 notion of its avian peculiarities, than a long list of accidental visitors- 



