a considerable vacant space, so much so that on viewing the head in profile I can see plainly between them, any object that happens to be on the P other side. The bird has the greatest difficulty in obtaining food; as the mandibles do not meet it has no ability to pick up peas or grain, but it manages to glean a few bread-crumbs, and on these it has hitherto subsisted. -Edward Newman. Malformation in Upper Mandible of a Redshank. On the 16th of August, 1873, my brother shot a redshank near Orford, Suffolk, with an apparently double upper mandible. It appears that by accident, possibly whilst fighting, or by a grazed shot, or, as Professor Newton suggests, through coming in contact with a telegraph-wire, the upper mandible has been struck just below the nasal aperture; this has driven the anterior portion of that mandible out of place, which, no longer having the lower mandible to support it, is curved downwards by its own weight: since the injury, however, Nature, with her marvellous healing power, has renewed the upper surface of the posterior portion of the upper mandible to a great extent, and this part has grown a little. I have no doubt that in course of time this stump would have formed a new upper mandible and the injured portion have dropped off. The bird, as might be expected, was in very bad condition, and so weak that it could scarcely fly; it was a bird of the year, and must have sustained this damage before its beak was fully developed, as the upper mandible, which of course has not grown since it was injured, if straight and in its correct position would now be more than a quarter of an inch shorter than when grown to its normal length. It is wonderful how the poor [I think the solution of this malformation must be found in the fact that a shot had penetrated the mandible, cutting it sufficiently to cause it to hang downwards, but not sufficiently to cause a complete separation. I have more than once seen birds' beaks injured in this way. I must forbear expressing any opinion on Mr. Durnford's theory that a new upper mandible would have been eventually formed and the injured portion have dropped off. I can scarcely accept the theory that the poor bird was fed by its companions.-Edward Newman.] Fishes killed at Scilly by the late Gale.-A proof, as unusual as it is conclusive, of the violence of the gale of Monday, April 13th, is afforded by the fact that large fish-conger, hake, ling, &c.—were tossed about in their watery homes near the Islands of Scilly and at last flung by hundreds on the rocks. This was more particularly noticed at St. Martin's, where our informant saw them lying on the shore heaped one on the other. The sea was seen from St. Mary's to break over the highest part of Bryher. The fish near the Land's End fared as badly as at Scilly. Mr. John Symons, jun., of Mayon House, picked up fish fully five hundred yards from Whitsand Bay. Five of these presenting a strange appearance, Mr. Symons forwarded them to Mr. T. Cornish, the honorary secretary of the Penzance Natural History Society, who identified three of them as specimens of the smallmouthed wrasse or rock cook (Crenilabrus exoletus). "They were," to quote Mr. Cornish's words, " entirely bereft of the thick, strong scales which ought to cover their whole body. The largest had received a heavy blow on the mouth, which dislocated some of its maxillary arrangements and gave it a somewhat bull-dog look." No wonder; for the sea and the winds must have used the fish roughly to toss it on the shore and hurry it the third of a mile over sands and up the cliffs. Two larger fish were the rare tadpole-fish, or trifurcated hake, or lesser forked-beard (Raniceps trifurcatus), both very much knocked about. Mr. Cornish adds:-" Both sorts of fish are denizens of rocky bottoms, and the wrasse stick closely to sea-weed. Their presence in the spot indicated speaks much for the weight of the gale which hove them on shore."-G. M. Fishing Frog at St. Leonard's.-One of our trawlers has brought in two fine specimens of Lophius piscatorius. One measured :-Length, four feet five inches; breadth from tip to tip of pectoral fins, three feet three inches; gape one foot. The other was-Length, five feet; breadth from tip to tip of pectoral fins, three feet; gape, one foot. The dimensions of the two are discrepant, probably this is sexual. Yarrell (vol. i. p. 269), says, "The 1 angler has been known to measure five feet in length, but the most common size is about three feet."-J. S. Bowerbank; 2, East Ascent, St. Leonard'son-Sea, April 12, 1874. Proceedings of Scientific Societies. LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. March 19, 1874.-Dr. G. J. ALLMAN, F.R.S., in the chair. The following papers were read, viz. :— 1. "Observations on Bees and Wasps." By Sir John Lubbock, Bart., M.P. The paper commenced by pointing out, with reference to the power of communication with one another said to be possessed by Hymenoptera, that the observations on record scarcely justify the conclusions which have been drawn from them. In support of the opinion that ants, bees, and wasps possess a true language, it is usually stated that if one bee discovers a store of honey, the others are soon aware of the fact. This, however, does not necessarily imply the possession of any power of describing localities, or anything which could correctly be called a language. If the bees or wasps merely follow their fortunate companions, the matter is simple enough. If, on the contrary, the others are sent, the case will be very different. To test this, Sir John kept honey in a given place for some time, in order to satisfy himself that it would not readily be found by the bees, and then brought a bee to the honey, marking it so that he could ascertain whether it brought others or sent them, the latter, of course, implying a much higher order of intelligence and power of communication. After trying the experiment several times with single bees and obtaining only negative results, Sir John Lubbock procured one of Marriott's observatory-hives, which he placed in his sitting-room. The bees had free access to the open air; but there was also a small side or postern door, which could be opened at pleasure, and which led into the room. This enabled him to feed and mark any particular bees; and he recounted a number of experiments, from which it appeared that comparatively few bees found their own way through the postern, while of those which did so the great majority flew to the window, and scarcely any found the honey for themselves. Those, on the contrary, which were taken to the honey, passed backwards and forwards between it and the hive, making, on an average, five journeys in the hour. Sir John had also in a similar manner watched a number of marked wasps, with very similar results. These and other observations of the same tendency appear to show that, even if bees and wasps have the power of informing one another when they discover a store of good food, at any rate they do not habitually do so; and this seemed to him a strong reason for concluding that they are not in the habit of communicating facts. When once wasps had made themselves thoroughly acquainted with their way, their movements were most regular. They spent three minutes supplying themselves with honey, and then flew straight to the nest, returning after an interval of about ten minutes, and thus making, like the bees, about five journeys an hour. During September they began in the morning at about six o'clock, and later when the mornings began to get cold, and continued to work without intermission till dusk. They made, therefore, rather more than fifty journeys in the day. Sir John had also made some experiments on the behaviour of bees introduced into strange hives, which seemed to contradict the ordinary statement that strange bees are always recognized and attacked. Another point as to which very different opinions have been propounded is the use of the antennæ. Some entomologists have regarded them as olfactory organs, some as ears, the weight of anthority being perhaps in favour of the latter opinion. In experimenting on his wasps and bees, Sir John, to his surprise, could obtain no evidence that they heard at all. He tried them with a shrill pipe, with a whistle, with a violin, with all the sounds of which his voice was capable, doing so, moreover, within a few inches of their head; but they continued to feed without the slightest appearance of consciousness. Lastly, he recounted some observations showing that bees have the power of distinguishing colours. The relations of insects to flowers imply that the former can distinguish colour; but there had been as yet but few direct observations on the point. An interesting discussion followed, in which Mr. Robert Warner, MajorGeneral Strachey, Mr. A. W. Bennett, Prof. Newton, Prof. Thiselton-Dyer, Mr. D. Hanbury, Mr. Elliot, of New York, and others took part. 2. "On Oniscigaster Wakefieldi, a singular insect from New Zealand, belonging to the Family Ephemerida, with Notes on its Aquatic Conditions." By Mr. R. M'Lachlan. The author gives full diagnoses of the new species and genus founded on this remarkable insect, forwarded by Mr. C. M. Wakefield from Christchurch, Canterbury Settlement, New Zealand. He has also had the opportunity of examining two individuals on the aquatic conditions of the insect. These are of different ages, and may be termed "larva" and "nymph" respectively, the larger individual having strongly developed rudimentary wings, and being evidently nearly mature, while the smaller one possesses only the thoracic lobes which indicate the position of the wings. These two states are described in detail. This remarkable insect would appear to be common at Christchurch, the cast subimaginal skins being no rarities sticking on walls, windows, &c. The Rev. A. E. Eaton considers the genus allied to Siphlurus, and points out that the structure of the aquatic conditions shows the creature to be of active habits, swimming freely among water-plants in search of its prey, and not semi fossorial as is the case with some members of the family. The great lateral expansion of the margins of the abdominal segments is without a parallel in any known perfect insect of the group. The author concludes by tracing the relations of Latreille's genus of Branchiopod Crustacea, Prosopistoma, according to the observations of N. and E. Joly, two French entomologists (father and son), who have rediscovered the creature, and who point out that there is scarcely any doubt as to the genus having been founded on the aquatic conditions of some species of Ephemerida. Some discussion as to the relationships of Oniscigaster took place, in which the Rev. A. E: Eaton and Sir John Lubbock took part. ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. April 6, 1874.-Sir SIDNEY SMITH SAUNDERS, C.M.G., President, in the Chair. Donations to the Library. The following donations were announced, and thanks voted to the donors: Proceedings of the Royal Society,' no. 150; presented by the Society. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, Session 1873-74;' by the Society. 'L'Abeille,' tome ix., livr. 7 and 8; by the Editor. Newman's Entomologist' and 'The Zoologist,' for April; by the Editor. The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine,' for April; by the Editors. 'Exotic Butterflies,' part 90: by the Author, W. C Hewitson, Esq. Election of Members. Messrs. W. Garneys, M.R.C.S., of Repton; Philip B. Mason, M.R.C.S., of Burton-on-Trent; and Nathaniel C. Tuely, Esq., of Wimbledon Park, were severally balloted for and elected Ordinary Members. Exhibitions, dc. Mr. Frederick Smith communicated to the Society the fact of his having captured seven specimens of Andrena tibialis, on Hampstead Heath, on the previous Friday, April 3rd, two being females and five males. One of the females had the exuvia of two males of Stylops remaining in the abdomen, the other female had had one male of Stylops, and also a female which of course remained in the abdomen of the bee. Of the male Andrenæ, one contained two females, a second having one of the same sex remaining in its abdomen. Mr. Smith mentioned this circumstance to give collectors of Coleoptera an opportunity of capturing the rare Stylops; and recommended searching for Stylopized bees between the hours of nine and twelve in the morning, as, according to his experience, the Stylops always emerged from the body of the bee on the day on which the latter first quitted its nest, should the day be bright and sunny; and he also mentioned |