Chiffchaff in DecemberAuthor(s): Edward WilliamsSource: The Irish Naturalist, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Jan., 1894), p. 24Published by: Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25520558 .

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24 7EThe Irisk Naturalist.

sidered a separate species, with yellow elytra and dark thorax; Cocc(inejla

xi-ptnctaea, the few specimnens that turned up of this beetle all belonged to a sin-ular varietv of colouring, in which the light hinder spots had run togrethler in pairs, forming two regMlar black bands across the elytra, only interrupted bjy the suture. Thle type did not occur; C(occindla' o6ii-ra(4 on stone wa l's bv the sea. Ther imiust have flown from a distance, as there is no fir abjout Port Ballintrac; Ziciops pZdlius, this interesting species I took in sonie nunbers by pulling up the coarse grass on the sandlhills in Bush Lay aild slnaking it. It is variable in size, and lives at a depth of two or three inches below the surface.-BROCKTON TouIlx,, Llandaff.

A Correction.-Pieris a7izbice.-The capture of this butterfly in our Decenmber number was erroneously given as "1 this month." The insect was taken in August, I893.

BIRDS. Female Merganser assuming Male Plumage.-On the 7th

March last I received, from Co. GaIway, a Merganser, Mlkers serrata;, wvhich I at first miistook for a youn-g male assuming adult plumage, but upon dissection I was surprised to find that it was an adult female, and fromi the condition of tlle o-vary I think a very old, barren bird. Mr. H.

E. Dresser, wlho has examined the bird, wnrites :-The Alerganser is a very interestinIg specimen, and is, I should say, an old female partiallv assumiing, male plumage. It is the first onle in that state of plumage Y have seen.-F. CoBURN (in ZoLoio'isl for December).

Snowy Owl In rMayo.-A very fine specimen of the S-nowy Owl

(.Ni/ea scnzdiaca) was shot in the viciniitv of Belmullet on the i3th December. The bird mieasures five feet to the extreme tip of wings, and twenty-five inches from beak to tail; weighing four pounds four ounces.

The specinen, has comie inito the possession of Mr. J. T. O'Reilly, Came House, Belmullet, who has forwarded it to us for preservation. WILUI-AMIS & SON, Dublin.

Chiffchaff In Decemj3erx-I was greatly surprised on the I3th Decenmber to see a bird of this species in mry garden in Rathgar, although there had been severe frost a few days previous; it evidently had little effect on this individual, as it was hopping about quite as merrily as if it vere the middle of April instead of dreary December.-EDWARD

WIr,rIATNS, Dublin.

GEOLOGY. I rish Geology.-Ve learn with pleasure that Professor Cole,

F.G.S., has accepted ain invitation by the Belfast Naturalists' Field Clul) to give a course of lectures and practical work in Belfast during the coiniing termn. It is understood that this arrangetnent is the outcome of the recent appoinitment by the Club) of a committee to investigate the glacial phenomena of the Belfast district, and that the lectures and demonstrations will have special reference to local geology. NVe con gratulate Belfast on its appreciationi of the claims of geology as a branch

of education, and on its good fortune in having secured such an able exponent of the science as Professor Cole.

High-Ievel Gravels.-An able paper by Mr. T. Mellard Reade, F.G.S., in the current (December) number of Vatural Science, deals with the origin of the well-k-nown high-level fossiliferous gravels found on

both sides of the Irish Sea. Mr. Reade has studied the beds with some care, both in Wales and Ireland, and is in favour of the " Submergence" view. He has kindly consented to contribute an article upon the subject to our pages.

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