SEPTEMBER. 
307 
of all the deciduous trees. But the close alliance of this 
tree with its evergreen congeners^ may account for this. 
(7. — About a week ago, I saw a White Ash f Fraxinus 
Acuminata ) which was thickly covered with seeds, dropping 
them very fast ; the ground underneath was strewn with 
them. The seed is curiously enclosed in the end of a long, 
flat wing. Here is a specimen of the beautifully 
coloured Crimson Beetle, crawling on this stump. It is of a 
singular shape, being so thin and flat. 
F. — It is a Cucujus ( C. Rufus J ; it is not uncommon, 
crawling on logs, trunks of trees, beneath bark, &c. In 
ploughing now, we often turn up the soft, inert, Chestnut 
Chafer {Rhizotroga Fervens), the Copper- spot (Calosoma 
Calidum)^ and the Purple Carab {Carabus Catena^, and 
other beetles. Most of the soft-billed, insect-eating birds, 
the pretty warblers, &c. are now gone from us : it is true 
they have been withdrawn from our observation for some 
months, but they were occasionally seen. Owing to this 
habit of retirement, it is difficult, without very close research, 
to note the time of their departure ; but we find that most 
species appear in the State of Pennsylvania, on their southern 
migration, during the months of September and October ; 
from which we may conclude that they leave our land a 
little before that time. Many of the seed- eaters, the Frin- 
gillss, &c. remain, however, with us. Have you 
procured any more lepidopterous caterpillars lately ? 
C. — I have obtained some ; but the season is becoming 
too far advanced for much success in bush-beating. Many 
large geometric caterpillars are found on the willows, near 
three inches long, and as thick as a goose-quill, very rough, 
and full of knobs and irregularities, mostly dark brown ; 
they take a firm grasp of the branch on which they rest, 
with the two anal pairs of feet, and rear the rest of their 
