220 



CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 



than usual rotundity of head, which,, I must acknowledge, in justice to 

 Phrenology as a science, I think is so far sufficiently exemplified in 

 my cat. 



P. S. Two or three of the Musca domestical or common house fly, 

 made their appearance again in February, the last of the winter stock 

 having disappeared only on the 16th of January ; so that owing to the 

 mildness of the winter we have not been deprived of their company 

 more than five or six weeks. On the evening of the 1st of March 

 instant, I saw a bat on the wing. The fruit trees are showing their 

 blossoms, and the willows are covered with catkins or male flowers. 



Southampton, March 3, 1834. M. 



Lady-birds. — In the spring of 1830, having accidentally walked to 

 some sand hills (cliffs) in the neighbourhood which are covered with 

 that kind of grass, provincially called Marram, I was much surprised 

 to find that the whole surface of the ground appeared to be covered 

 with ladybirds {Coccinella) of various kinds. 



In the space of an hour or two I collected as many as fifty-two kinds, 

 distinctly different from one another ; five of these were larger than the 

 common ladybird (Septem punctata), but in general they were of a 

 very small size. 



On returning the next day to the same spot, I could scarcely find 

 a single individual, which 1 attributed to a strong wind which had 

 blown from the shore all night ; and on descending to the beach I found 

 that my conjecture was true, as multitudes of ladybirds, left by the 

 receding tide on the shore, were dead. 



As I took no note of the circumstance at the time, I cannot exactly 

 say in what month this happened, but I think it was in May. 



I should be much gratified if any of your readers are able to assign 

 any cause for the collection of so many different species of Coccinella 

 in such a situation. C. B. 



January 23rd, 1834. 



