168 Notes on Insectivorous Coleoptera. 
olophus, this plate is produced forward and outward be- 
yond the articulation with the palpus (which thus seems 
to spring from beneath it), forming an oblique lamina 
with a rounded outer angle and an acute tip. This char- 
acter seems to distinguish Stenolophus from Harpalus, 
as far as I have been able to compare the species. 
Food of the C'arabhle. 
The large numbers of Carabidae eaten by several of our 
common birds make it important that the somewhat 
doubtful food habits of this family should be more thor- 
oughly studied; and I have undertaken the microscopic 
examination of the contents of stomachs and intestines as 
one branch of this investigation. The facts thus obtain- 
able perhaps cannot give us a complete idea of the food 
of these insects, but should probably be taken in connec- 
tion with field observations, as these beetles are said fre- 
quently only to suck the juices of their prey, rejecting 
the solid parts ; and where this has been done the fact will 
be only obscurely indicated by the contents of the alimen- 
tary canal. Where this contained an abundance of fatty 
chyme with no solid tissues to fix its source, I have some- 
times doubtfully inferred such an event; but usually 
liquid food will escape detection. 
The results of the examinations thus far made are sq 
interesting that I am impelled to give the method I have 
found most successful and convenient, with the hope that 
others may turn their attention to the same subject. The 
dissection should be made as soon as possible after the 
beetle is taken — within a few days at farthest — as the 
more unstable elements of the food are apparently soon 
changed, even in strong alcohol. If the beetle is as large 
as Megilla maculata, the elytra and wings may be cut off 
and then, while the insect is held between the thumb and 
finger of the left hand, the edges of the abdomen may be 
carefully trimmed away with a pair of fine scissors (those 
with curved blades are best) leaving the soft dorsal cov- 
ering attached only at the base and tip. If one blade of 
the scissors be now carefully passed under this dorsal in- 
tegument, it may be cut across and reflected (with the 
