1867.] Ill 
embracing what is called tho Laigh of Moray, the surface is generally level, and 
the soil very light. Towards the south the country gradually rises into moorland, 
and culminates in the " Knock of the Braes of Moray " at about sixteen miles from 
the coast. This eminence yielded me but little beyond a specimen of Caraius 
nitens. The Cluny Hills, near Forres, forming part of the town lands, and to 
which unrestricted access is allowed, are about 200 feet in height, planted chiefly 
with fir, oak, and birch, and intersected by numerous well-constructed footpaths. 
These hills afford excellent hunting-ground to the Coleopterist. Here occur 
BJethisa muUipunctata, Pterostichus lepidus, Amara eif/rynota, Brady cellus liarpalinus, 
Harpalus tardus, AmphycilUs globus, and Agathidiv/m Icevigatum and nigrinum. 
Of Thalycra sericea, seemingly rare in all parts of the country, two specimens were 
secured, and Melolontha Twppocastani was not uncommon. Clerus formicarius and 
Cis lineato-crihratus were occasionally met with, and Anohium nigrinum, though 
mutilated in four instances out of the five, was an agreeable capture. Orohitis 
cyaneus was not unfrequent on Viola canina; and on the broom growing hear Nelson's 
Monument I was not a little surprised to find a dozen or more of the pretty Tychius 
venustus ; Anthonomus puiescens, Magdalinus phlegmaticus and M. ca/rhonarius, 
Rhinomacer attelahoides, and Rhynchites mneo-virens, none of which I had ever seen 
alive, were specially acceptable. Borytomus tortrix was not scarce upon the aspen, 
Acanthocinus cedilis, Pogonocherus fasciculatus, and Ascmum striatum were the only 
noteworthy Longicornes ; Tachinus pallipes, and T. elongatus and Quedius ruficollis 
among the larger Brachelytra. 
In the town, after a keen hunt in many questionable localities, I succeeded in 
obtaining a few of Blaps mortisaga of Linnaeus, which presents very decided marks 
of distinction from the common insect formerly known under that name, but now 
catalogued as B. mucronata. Of this species I previously possessed only one 
specimen, taken several years ago in an outhouse belonging to an inland farm in 
Forfarshire. 
At Burghead, among stones that had occupied a place in fortifications, sup- 
posed to have been reared by the ancient Caledonians and subsequently renewed 
by the Danes, I found a single specimen of Leistus montamis. It had evidently 
fallen from the high estate of its progenitors and most of its contemporaries, for 
the spot of its capture is not more than thirty feet above the sea level, and within 
half a stone's throw of high-water mark. 
On the banks of the Findhorn, near the Suspension Bridge, Borytomus pcctoralis 
and D. maculatus, with Crepidodera aiirata, were beaten from sallow, while Bem- 
hidium paludosum careered over the damp sand in considerable numbers. There, 
also, turned up a specimen of Morychus ceneus ; and Lagria hirta, not hitherto 
observed north of the Tweed, was evidently quite at home. Farther south, on the 
Divie (a tributary of the Findhorn), near its confluence with the Dorbach, Bern- 
hidmm pallipes, Cryptoliypnus maritimus, and Euryporus picipes occurred — all, 
alas ! in single blessedness. At Altyre and Relugas, OtiorJiynchus septentrionis 
was found ; in the one place by beating, in the other, and more plentifully, under 
dead leaves along with Ot. picipes and Quedius fulgidus. Near Dunphail I obtained 
Magdalinus phlegmaticus, Rhinomacer, and Anohium nigrvnum, with two species of 
Tomicus and a dozen Salpingus castaneus, all from a single branch. Although a 
specimen of M. carhonarius may have been found on hazel, as recorded by the late 
