24 
CHAPTER OF CRITICISM. 
all (with the exception of one, who said that the bulbs were hollowed out by the 
Crows) of the same opinion. I should therefore think that there is no doubt that 
the Ring Pigeon is very destructive to Turnips by eating the bulbs as well as 
the leaves. 
I am, Sir, 
Yours, &c.. 
Law Park , near St. Andrews , Henry Buist. 
Aug. 7, 1838. 
fin the Magazine of Natural History, that acute naturalist Charles Water- 
ton, Esq., states that the Ring Pigeon “ feeds voraciously on the leaves, and not 
on the body , of the Turnip.” He repeats this statement in his recently-published 
Essays , p. 146 .—Ed.] 
Is Papilio podalirius a British Insect ? 
To the Editor of the Naturalist. 
Bewsey House , Warrington , 
Aug. 10, 1838. 
My Dear Sir, — I feel inclined to retain myself as special pleader in favour of 
the claims of Papilio podalirius to rank as a British species. I confess I should 
feel vexed if we had to lose so interesting an ornament of our Fauna; and cannot 
but believe that the evidence we have (though chiefly presumptive) is sufficient to 
sustain its right as a British insect. I shall notice briefly each of the cases which 
have been brought forward to prove its occurrence in England. 
1. Mr. Read’s capture is important; for though he may have some reason for 
suspecting that the specimen is not indigenous, yet that it did occur alive in 
Britain is a fact which ought not to be lost sight of in the investigation. I should 
be glad to know the reasons Mr.READ has for doubting its genuineness as a British 
example (See Yol. III., p. 348). 
2. Although the fact that Mr. G. Robertson and Dr. Bromfield have pur¬ 
chased specimens as British, in our want of further information, proves nothing, as 
they may probably have been imposed upon, yet Mr. Allis’s specimens are not 
open to this objection. The circumstances which he has detailed at p. 38 of the 
second volume afford fair presumptive evidence (to characterise it no stronger) 
that his insects are genuine. 
3. Why has the specimen which the Rev. F. W. Hope (an excellent authority) 
informed Mr. Stephens ( Illustr . Brit. Ent. , 145) was taken at Netley, Salop, 
been lost sight of? I am not aware that there has been any doubt cast upon this 
occurrence of P. podalirius in Britain. 
