Observations 7 Part 1

23

OBSERVATIONS. " Cursed be the social lies that warp us trom the l h i n g t t u t h . "

—Tennyson. caryophyllus, Lam., is a Coral that has never been recorded from the Crag. It is a derived Eocene species and occurred rather over a foot above the Nodule Bed at Bawdsey. Another specimen of interest is a Crab, thought by Ipswich Museum where both are deposited to be the recent common Cancer pagurus, L. This I found in Boxstone, also from Bawdsey ; its matrix I still possess.

I have never seen any Crustacea recorded from the Boxstone BOXSTONE FOSSILS.—As far as I am aware Paracyathus

f a u n a — P H I L I P CAMBRIDGE, R . A . F . , W a t t i s h a m ; 28 J a n . , 1949.

AN AGARIC N E W TO SUFFOLK.—In a Beech-wood at Orford

were found growing last November a local abundance of the novel Armillaria mucida, Schrad., on the trees ; and the terrestrial ascomyete Helvella lacunosa, Atz.—STANLEY PORTER; v.v., 3 December.

PLANTS OF 1949.—The botanical vasculum has been rather empty this year, due mainly to the very general desiccated conditions. There is less to find also, as the old habitats of good things are rapidly vanishing. I am afraid the county is fast losing its former wealth of floral treasures. Nothing can be done to halt this decline, due mainly to the Agricultural Executive Committees, the Forestry Commission, taxation and the general spread of industry and urbanisation of the countryside. Polstead parish possesses much of interest: a colony of Pulmonaria angustifolia, L. was found in one of the old Woods during early May and a few wild saplings of the fragrant Salix pentandra, L .

M u c h of Holly Wood in Bentley, formerly a grand spot, has been felled ; primaeval woods at Sudbourne, known as the Birches and Black Walks, are wickedly mutilated; other Woods at Assington, Belstead and Bentley have also been much cut this year. T h e hardwood trees felled will not be replaced ; natural regeneration is slow, and young trees are lopped for stakes before maturing.

Digitalis purpurea, L . appears frequently and is often very abundant in suitable woods and Clearings on light sandy soils south of Ipswich, chiefly in the Valleys of the Orwell and Stour and their tributaries. I t does not occur to the north of the Orwell in any numbers (unless planted) although conditions appear favourable. This marked distribution of Foxgloves must have something to do with the soils and their mineral Contents : the sands and gravels capping the London Clay. There was a very fine show of these flowers in a wood near Bentley Station this year.

During August, an interesting series of hybrid grasses, Agropyron junceum, Beauv. and A. pungens, R. and S. were found at Bawdsey.

24

OBSERVATIONS

Many of the varieties of these species described are obviously hybrids. They hybridise freely and produce plants which might easily be mistaken for varieties if not growing near both parents.

Lactuca virosa, L. and L. serriola, L. (scariola, L.), are very similar plants and only when the two are compared in the field can one feel really sure of correct identification, especially of L. serriola. L. virosa, has black fruit and L. serriola, grey; but unless very ripe both look grey. L. serriola has only one record in Hind's Flora and a doubtful second for Coddenham. L. virosa is very frequent; but L. serriola I found and identified for the first time on waste ground at Ipswich this summer. It is not such a strong and coarse plant as virosa, and has a more spreading and slender habit, approaching almost that of Lactuca muralis, D.C. Other records for the year are Campanula rapunculoides, L., at South Cove, Orobanche major, L. on Centaurea scabiosa, L. at Hollesley, and Gnaphalium sylvaticum, L. between Chillesford and Tunstall.—F. W . SIMPSON. N E W SUFFOLK E L M S . — I n the current Journal of the Linnean Society, R. Melville describes a species of Elm, Ulmus coritana, Melville, new to Science ; along with three varieties : (1) Var. media from Martlesham, Sweffling, Woodbridge and Rishangles ; (2) Var. angustifolia from Tannington, Stowupland (type) and Tuddenham Mary ; and (3) Var. rotundifolia, not yet found in Suffolk.—(Lord) CRANBROOK ; 1 9 March, 1 9 4 9 .

DOUBLE-FLOWERED C H E S T N U T . — I n Portman Road at Ipswich is a tree of Aesculus hippocastaneum, half of which is at present in a normal condition. The other half is in füll bloom for the second time this year ; the flowering twigs arise from those already bearing fully-developed and ripened fruit. The unusual heat of August extending into autumn, has produced many such anomalies : yesterday I picked flowers of Broom !—ETHEL M. BACKHOUSE, Sudbury ; 9 October.

HARVEST M I T E N E W TO S U F F O L K . — W h e n a child living in Suffolk, I was once confined to bed for a fortnight by very swollen and painful legs. The doctor considered this condition caused by scratching my merely socked legs while gleaning, and then getting them poisoned with May-weed Anthemis Cotula, L., which grew plentifully amongst the stubble.—Mrs. J. FRENCH of Colchester, in " T h e Naturalists' World," No. 35, Nov. 1886, vol. iii. [We now know the doctor to have been wrong ; and the irritation set up by the Arachnid Mite Trombicula autumnalis, L., (not recorded from our County at Trans, iii, 183), from which we ourseif have suffered, though to a much less degree, at Monks Soham this August.—Ed.].

OBSERVATIONS

25

OBSCURE C E N T I P E D . — A very long-legged Centiped was exhibited

by Ipswich Museum, along with the Dog Tick, at 1 December 1948 Meeting (Proc. supra, vi, p. xcviii) [and not recorded for lack of its name], T h e British Museum consider now it a European species, Lithobius mutabilis, Koch. ; but how it came to be in a packing-case from the American United States is a mystery—H. E. P. SPENCER, Ipswich M u s e u m ; 22 Jan. 1949.

[We then examined the specimen very closely and came to the conclusion that it Was certainly a Scutigera, species of which rub their legs together with a rattling noise, and most probably Buffon's Scutigera rubrilineata : certainly no British kind.—Ed.] JELLYFISH N U M E R O U S . — E v e r since I was first there in July 1896 small and transparent, white-glassy Jellyfish have been observed along the shore northwards from Southwold; but they could not be recorded for lack of a specific name. At last they are recognised as Pleurobrachia pileus, Müll. (Trans, v, 77), considered by Dr. Collings the more correct name for Cydippe pomiformis, well figured in its living State by Dr. J. E. Taylor of Ipswich Museum in his 1880 " Half-hours at the Sea-side," p. 114. Early on 21 July 1949 the tide was high at Easton Bavent and no specimens appeared ; but by 12.30 noon it had considerably receded and at least a hundred of these beautiful little chaps, about two inches long, had been left lying on the bare sand, from five to twenty feet below o.d., for fully a half-mile there. A few were taken home in damp sand ; but all were dead when immersed in sea-water at 4 p . m . — C L A U D E MORLEY. ANOTHER LOCUST I M P O R T E D . — A greengrocer in Needham Market asked me on 13 Feb. last to go and see a horrific bestiole that he had discovered in his shop among produce from abroad, probably Bananas. I found it to be a male of the typical brown form of Locusta migratoria, L. (Trans, vi, 85), just like those netted along the French Riviera in April 1931 by Mr. Claude Morley, to whose collection I was glad to add this specimen.—E. W. PLATTEN.

Pholidoptera cinerea, L., AT LIGHT.—As I Was about to extinguish the oil-lamp under which I had been reading tili midnight on 1 September with the garden-door wide open, my eye caught a £ of this long-horned Grasshopper sitting under the light upon the table that is 30 ins. high with top overlapping the legs by four. H e is much too brachypterous to fly, so must have walked up this apparently serious obstruction to attain the light, for the leaping powers are quite inadequate to have brought him there.

T h e species is not uncommon here, but I cannot recall noticing one at light before. At noon the next day he was sitting, five feet up, on a rough baize curtain, so he seems fond of exalted positions in the World ! — C L A U D E MORLEY, Monks Soham.

26

OBSERVATIONS

Dytiscus marginalis, L., AT LIGHT.—A $ of this large Waterbeetle at Great Glemham House flew in at the top of a groundfloor (kitchen) window, that was open only about twelve inches, at 8 p.m. on 12 March last. Is not this a little early ?—(Lord) CRANBROOK. [It can be hardly termed early, because the halfdozen British species of this genus are active throughout at least the warmer days of the whole winter (cf. Trans, iii, 122, xxi, &c.); but Dytiscus is a genus that is rarely attracted by light and, in fact, last March we could not, off-hand, recall a similar occurence at any time of year. But, curiously, on 19th of the following August one was experienced : it was a sultry night, muggy, quite windless and very dark with temperature at 66°, when at 8.10 GT., a $ of the same species hurtled through the open door on to the brilliant oil-lamp, beaming over the moat five-and-twenty paces away.—Ed.].

BEETLES AT CHEESE.—In late July and early August I had occasion to devour cheese-sandwiches for lunch on my Monks Soham lawn, and was astonished to find the Clavicorn Librodor hortensis, Frc., crawling about on them and the paper enwrapping them. Three or four occurred whenever the provender was cheese : meat sandwiches had no attraction. Twice or thrice I actually saw the Beetles Aying through the air and alighting upon the bread, once upon my own hand holding it. Such taste is quite new to me, who never found the species here before through forty years, and have elsewhere turned it up but rarely : always in May in the New Forest and Bentley Woods near Ipswich, once swept in Blythburgh Wood ; but generally running on large Oak- and Spruce-stools, except once in a dead Rabbit along with a host of burying-beetles. It is distributed all over Britain, usually seen upon sap but never fungi, and cheese is an entirely new comestible for its palate. With it came a very few Typhcea stercorea, L., one or two Athetae and a P s o c i d . — C L A U D E MORLEY. SMALL STAG-BEETLE.—A specimen of Dorcusparallelopipedus, L., Was discovered in the rectory garden at Haverhill last night. I am never certain as to whether this Beetle is rare or not.—(Lord) CRANBROOK, Great Glemham House; 28 July. [This small species is really a füll inch in length, so among the larger Beetles of Britain, where it is found with increasing frequency in decayed Ash and Elm trees from Cheshire and Armagh southwards, but nowhere in Scotland ; in Suffolk it is quite common among old timber, though not often seen because of nocturnal habits.—Ed.]

Cantharis vesicatoria, L. (Trans, iv, p. 223).—A large number of the Blister Beetles were observed at Shotley on 30 June this year. I enclose a half-dozen males and females, which a workingman brought thence and told me that they were eating the leaves of various shrubs upon his small holding. He supposes that they

OBSERVATIONS

27

came from the Continent— He adds that crops there were almost ruined by Greenflies two years ago ; but one day there arrived a great cloud of Lady-birds, so numerous that they darkened the sky and obscured the sun. I had previously heard of this influx at a point of the coast between Felixstow and Hollesley ; it apparently destroyed the Aphides.—F. W. SIMPSON ; 8 July.

MITRE-BUG'S WINTER FLIGHT —Please, can you name the enclosed Bug for me ? It was captured, while Aying in the air, at Wattisham on 17 February.—PHILIP CAMBRIDGE. [Still alive and alert when received on 18th ; but dead by 12 March.

It is the Mitre-bug Acanthosoma hcemorrhoidale, L., that was found to hibernate at Trans, iv, 251 ; but that it should actually be upon the wing in February is quite new to our experience.—Ed.] Reduvius personatus, L. (Trans, v, p. 38).—The enclosed conspicuous Bug was discovered on the wall of my sitting room in Wickham Market on 10 July. It may be something quite common, but I do not remember seeing anything like it before. On a visit to the Bird sanctuary at Minsmere in Dunwich last month, I was one of several ornithologists who were so fortunate as to see a <$ Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus, Pall., a rare annual visitor to our coast tidal estuaries.—R. W. KINGSLEY KEFFORD ; 17 July 1949.

FEBRUARY 1949.—The peculiarly mild weather of this month showed Vanessa C-album in afternoon sunshine at Northfield Wood in Onehouse on 17th, V. Urtica at Stowmarket on 19th, with V. Io at Onehouse where were also Green Woodpeckers, Long tailed and Coal and Blue and Great Tits, Jays, Magpies, and a S Sparrow Hawk ; there on 20th was a flock of Redwings that stayed for three weeks. Kingfishers ard Herons were seen along the River Gipping. On llth I found two unevacuated cocoons of the Whitethorn Sawfly, Trichiosoma lucorum, Linn., at Stowmarket; and on 29 January I came across Snowdrops, with afinecarpet of Winter Aconites and a pair of Red Squirrels in Finborough Park. Light in Barking Wood on 19th produced two Micros, a hibernated Noctua and four early Geometers, all common kinds, the best being Leucophearia thefirstof which appeared on llth at Onehouse Wood. To-day is colder, showing nothing but Coccid, Aleyrodes brassicce, Wik., in this garden. I find our 1948 Transactions as extremely interesting as ever.—ALASDAIR E. ASTON, Stowmarket; 21 Feb. 1949.

INSECTS OF THE BRECK.—A week's stay at Mildenhall from 23-30 May produced less than had been anticipated because the days were windy and often dull, and the nights cold : that of 26th, which had been 47° at 5 p.m., ran perilously near freezing on Icklingham Plains before midnight and no moth of note

OBSERVATIONS

28

would move. T h e sole windless evening was the 25th when, after dinner at the socialised White Hart Hotel, we found Melianaflammea nearly fully emerged in the Staunch marshes at Brandon ; but of our main object, Euxoa cinerea, only a solitaire male came to light, in the Eriswell chalk-pit on 23rd (when a half-dozen police and air-men were also attracted to investigate our gestes 1).

T h e more interesting Insects were : (Lepidoptera) Melanchra genista et dentina at Eriswell and Barton Mills light and sugar; Hydriomena affinitata, Drymonia trepida, Drymonia tnmacula, Loxotege sticticalis, Phalonia cnicana, Sciophila chrysanthemana, Gelechia assimilella; (Neuroptera) Ephemera vulgata at Judes Bridge on 28th ; Calopteryx splendens, Rhyacophila dorsalis, Ct., NEW to Suffolk, at Brandon staunch on 2 5 t h ; (Diptera) Pales crocata, Empis plumipes, Tropidia scita ; (Hymenoptera) Nematus lucidus in Barton Mills woods, and Tomostethus luteiventns at Icklin^ham Temple Bridge ; (Coleoptera) Coccinella ocellata and Cistela luperus at Brandon staunch, Rhinomacer attelaboides and, abundantly on Mullein, Cionus longicollis. Larvae of Caradnna Hellmanni were none too frequent in roots of its Calamagrostis reeds.—MLY. and BTN. N O C T U ^ E SCARCE.—This has been a lean year for Noctuid Moths, but their scarcity was finally redeemed by a profusion of Aporophyla australis, Boisd., of which Dr. De Worms and I took eight on 16-18 and, with Mr. Quibell, I saw no less than fifty-one during 21-23 September, with a single Polia vetusta, Hb. They were all on sugar at the sea-denes in Benacre, where only a feW came to light, after all the war-modifications of the vast shingle, on 27 September 1948. Never through the last decade (cf Trans, iii, p. clxi) have I known it in such numbers ; and this When only about a quarter of the earlier denes now remain (JIM BURTON).—One Spodoptera exigua, Hb., flew in to light at my Stowmarket home last July : the best arrival I have seen this year during which I have taken Polia Chi, L., Hydriomena ccesiata, Lang and the white form of Xanthorhoe didymata L on the Yorkshire moors (ALASDAIR E . A S T O N ; 26 September).

S P R I N G L E P I D O P T E R A . — M y father and I have at length secured our first Monima miniosa, F. : at Barking, where M. populeti,Tr was fairly common, though not previously seen there. 1 o light there on 14 May came ten Colocasia coryli, L., Drymonia tremula and a week earlier a few Pygaera curtula. Again Calocalpe certata, H b appeared at Needham Windows, this time on 18 May ; but n i g h t s hitherto have been u n f a v o u r a b l e . - G E O F F R E Y B U R T O N ;

22 May. L O B S T E R AND C H I M N E Y - S W E E P . — W h i l e looking round Weston church near Beccles in mid-July, I was very pleased to discover a perfect Stauropus fagi, L., sitting quiescently upon a tombstone

29

OBSERVATIONS

in the graveyard, because the species never once came to light during m y whole decade's collecting in Suffolk. I will add, on account of its extreme rarity in our County, that the specimen of Odezia atrata, L., secured by me at Mildenhall in 1936 (recorded at M e m . Suff. Nat. Soc. 1937, 78) was captured while it was Aying round a Walnut-tree in the late D r . Burwell's garden.—JACK GODDARD ; 30 J u l y .

Hemaris fuciformis AT HERRINGFLEET.—I have not been active in the Naturalists' field for some time ; b u t was glad to-day to take a Broad-bordered Bee-hawk in my garden close to St. Olaves railway-station.—(Major)

ROSS-LEWIN ;

17

May.

Macroglossa stellatarum, L . — Y o u may like to know that a H u m m i n g b i r d H a w k m o t h has been frequenting Bloomville Hall in Hacheston. O n 8 September evening I saw it hovering at Valerian flowers in the garden ; and was told it had been noticed there during the previous fortnight. (Miss) M . L . LYNNALLEN, Earls Soham Rectory ; 9 Sept.—One" at Dahlia-Aower in O u l t o n on 14 October. D r . KEENE.—One at Walton, 19 October. A. E. ORFORD — I t is. common just now here, at my new address, where one perfect Orthosia xerampelina, H b . , was taken at light on 2 September. ERIC A. BUTTERS, 34 N e w b u r y Road, I p s w i c h ; 14 Sept.

LEPIDOPTERA OF THE GIPPING VALLEY.—The b e t t e r

species

of M o t h s that have occurred to me this year, mainly in Barking W o o d , are the following :—Hadena ochroleuca, at Stowmarket, 16 July, Orthosia aurago on Ivy-blossom at Bosmere 1 Oct., Brachionycha sphinx at light Barking and Stowmarket 3 and 12 N o v . 1948, Polia semibrunnea hibernated at light 2 April, Leptomens marginipunctata at light Stowmarket 12 July, Palimpsestis or at light 25 June, Macroglossa stellatarum by day at Stowmarket on only 19 July, Ptilophora plumigera at light singly 14 and 20 N o v e m b e r 1948, Gastropacha quercifolia at Stowmarket light 16 July. Fritillaries have been so scarce this year that I may add Argynnis Paphia was Aying on 6 August in Barking W o o d — WALTER

G.

THURLOW ;

10

October.

Sphinx pinastri, L., SCARCE—Only one could be seen, sitting u p o n its usual Scots Fir trunks, at HerringAeet Hills by 19 J u n e last (P. J. BURTON). One came into m y kitchen at Hollesley on the evening of 19 A u g u s t ; and, as its body Was injured in capture, I gave it to a y o u t h f u l local collector (BERNARD BARRINGTON).

Deilephila lineata, FAB., IN IPSWICH.—On the evening of 10 September, a fairly good specimen oiLivornica, the Striped Hawk, came to light at 86 Henley Road, Standing high over the Gipping V a l l e y ; and was caught. T h e sole fault is that some of the hairs of the head have been r u b b e d away. M . R. ALDOUS ; 13

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OBSERVA TIONS

Sept.—About 9.30 p.m. on 31 August I took a s p e c i m e n o f Z i t w nica that was sitting just above the picture-rail on the dining-room wall at 98 Tuddenham Road in Ipswich. Its position was most conspicuous. (Mrs.) E D N A BEAUFOY, 22 Sept.—I have a pupa of A. Atropos, taken this week at Saxmundham. A. E . ORFORD, 23 Sept.

SECOND SUFFOLK Papilio Machaon OF 1949.—A Swallow-tail Butterfly was recently found in a cornfield at Wherstead during harvest, and brought to Ipswich Museum in a wcak condition.— FRANCIS SIMPSON ; 2 3 September.

SCARCE CLOUDED-YELLOW B U T T E R F L I E S . — T h e first brood of Colias edusa was represented in Suffolk by a solitary individual, which I saw Aying slowly along in the Stour marshes at Fiatford in Bergholt during mid-June. LEONARD RICHARDSON, V. V. 2 July.—I noticed the first Edusa of 1949 at Liss in Hants on the afternoon of 7 June. FRANK S T A N L E Y . — A single $ was passing along the Monks Soham unmetalled lanes at 9 a.m. on 29 July.

CLAUDE M O R L E Y . — S e v e r a l Edusa were seen at Benacre by Dr. de Worms and me on 18 Sept. but not more than six all told.

JIM BURTON, 1 9 Sept.—There are very few Butterflies of any kind this year. Mrs. LINGWOOD, 2 0 Sept.—Where are all the Butterflies, these days ? Moths, however, are quite abundant.

S. BEAUFOY, 2 2 Sept. [Our limited experience showed unusual dearth of all species, excepting the six Browns, which all unwontedly abounded : /Egeria is spreading in Kent, we are glad to see in Entom. Vanessa were never seen on wing, excepting an occasional V. c-album and Atalanta, at Monks Soham, where in late Sept. were found hibernating 13 V. urticae and Io, one of the latter in füll light from front door under the overhang of a stair-tread only three feet from ground. Ed.]—Saw first Edusa of 1 9 4 9 on 6 August at Barking. T H U R L O W . — 8 Sept. at Bawdsey. SIMPSON.—One in Suffolk on 9th and one in Hants. on 23 September. A S T O N . — O n e at Dedham, Essex, 24th. V I N T E R . — A single Colias Hyale, L., at Wingfield College on 3 October.

D.

C.

EDWARDS.

Vanessa polychloros, L.—I was passing an Oak-tree in the Monks Soham " lanes " on 24 July last, and at first I could see only a large and rough abrasion of bark ; but, looking closer, I discovered two Butterflies there with closed wings, and I never saw such a perfect example of Camouflage. They rocked very gently back and forth, and were evidently feeding on the exuding sap. Suddenly one of them opened its wings and I recognized them as Large Tortoiseshells. They were far too deeply engrossed in their feeding to be aware of my promixity, and I was easily able to take them both with my fingers. Hardly had I placed them safely away before there was another flash of colour, and

OBSERVATIONS

31

two more Large Tortoiseshells settled on the rent bark, immediately closing their wings and completely hiding their presence. Apart from the two specimens I had secured, I saw four others ; and, upon visiting this oak during the day, I always found one o r two of these lovely creatures feeding on that rather disfigurmg scar. E. E. G. CRICKMORE.—In 1948 one specimen frequented my Haverhill garden all one afternoon. P H I L I P G. M. D I C K I N SON—And in 1949 one was seen on 17 April in Barking Wood.

W. G. THURLOW.—A fine specimen of Large Tortoiseshell was seen by me at Hollesley on 11 August. BERNARD BARRINGTON. A SECOND Pyrausta (Botys) nubilalis, HB.—A perfect ? of this Micro was captured at light by M r . P. J. Burton in the bathroom of his house, 1 Marine Parade in Lowestoft which immediately faces the pier, on 3 July, 1949. Suffolk's sole previous specimen pertained to the pale form silacealis and occurred to Mr. Gibbs at Felixstow in 1903 (Mem. 129). It is a coast Insect, probably only a casual immigrant to Britain : Middlesex, Lancs. and it has been taken rather freely of late years in Essex and the Isle of Wight.—WILLIAM R A I T - S M I T H ; 4 August.

A hibernated specimen of the Tineid Moth Epermenia Illigerella, Hb., was sitting for a half-hour at 3 p.m. on 22 March last on the outside of a ground-floor window of Monks' Soham House, where its food-plant JEgopodium is only too common in the garden.

Hitherto I have met with it at solely light beside Fritton Lake in August and Beechen Lane in the New Forest early on July (CLAUDE MORLEY).—Phycita spissicella, Fb., was in profusion on the top of Easton Bavents sea-cliff on 15 October (JIM BURTON).

KESSINGLAND DENES' M O T H S , &C.—For the third successive season (Trans, vi, pp. 143 and 250), we worked the shore-marsh Denes with a light in late June and early July this year. T h e result was less satisfactory than previously, though it established the constant presence in the Latimer Dam there of Diacrisia Urtica, a dozen $ ? being attracted between 22 June and 4 July ; they seemed Over, for none appeared, on 14 July. Having attained the light this species at once sits quiescently, unlike D . menthrasti. All other Macros., except one Leucania obsoleta on 14 July, were common in species and sparse in specimens : Senta maritima, Xanthorhoe vittata, &c. T h e Micros. were Homceosoma sinuella and nimbella, with many Anerastia lotella ; Chilo phragmitellus, Nymphula stratiotata, Phlytcenia ciliahs; Phalonia Smaethmannana, Tortix costana ; Gelechia senectella, Zell M o m p h a fulvescens, many Elachista albifront. E. argentella and Tinea semifulvella.

T h e Beetles were a few Lampyris noctiluca and numerous Cercyon flavipes, Fowl. T h e H y m e n o p t e r a : Panisci with Mesochorus vitticollis and Meteorus ictericus. T h e Neueoptera (teste Blair): sparse Canis horaria. T o light on

!

OBSERVATIONS

32

the denes also came some Diptera : Diplotoxa messoria with the Tipulids Pales flavescens, Tipula oleracea et vernalis, Limonia macrostigma, Limnophila ferruginea, et dimidiata, with a good many of both Erioptera stictica and lutea.—MLY. and BTN. MACROLEPIDOPTERA OF 1949.—The mild weather of early February brought out all the spring Moths ; on 26 March and 2 April they Were very plentiful in Barking Woods, both at light and Sallow blossom ; and on 16 April Noctuid larvae were common after dark, when I took the var. gothicina of Monima gothica, L. Of larval webs of Euproctis phceorrhcea, Don., there must have been some five-and-forty in a Stretch of some half-mile near the sea at Dovercourt in Essex on 18 May, mainly on Hawthornbushes though some were on Blackthorn and Wild Rose.

Melatichra albicolon came to sugar at Barton Mills on 5 June ; Adusta, Esp., was Aying over Valerian at Stowmarket on l l t h ; and I was surprised on 13th to take Metrocampa dolabraria, L., there at house lights. There, too, on the very hot 26th were seen a Colias edusa, F., and one M. stellatarum, L., with a second of the latter at rest on 23 October ; these, with Vanessa cardui, L., on 28 June, proved later to be our commonest migrants of 1949, whereas Moths and especially Butterflies have been less generally numerous than is usual. A larva of the last, whence the imago emerged on 12 August, was found on 21 July feeding on MugWort Artemisia vulgaris, L., unmentioned as its pabulum by any author I possess [including Allan 1949, unless among his "various other plants " !—Ed.]. A single Albipuncta, F., came to sugar at Bosmere on 10 September ; and on 27th in Stowmarket was seen the first V. Atalanta, L., much scarcer this year than usual.— H. E.

CHIPPERFIELD.

Gelechia Galbanella, DGL., N E W TO S U F F O L K . — I have examined a $ of this species, usually thought to be local in Perth (Meyrick), that was captured at light at 9 p.m. on 1 September 1945 in Bentley Woods near Ipswich by our Hon. Secretary, who also there found, sitting on a Spruce trunk at 2 p.m. on 9 June 1945, the local Borkhausenia unitella, H b . Also I find that Peronea comparana, Hb., known in Suffolk at only Nayland in 1896 (Pyett), was boxed in Gorleston on 24 September 1934 by the late M r . Chester Doughty, whom I well remember meeting in the Cotswold Hills in July 1 9 3 1 . — W I L L I A M R A I T - S M I T H ; 4 August.

Adela DeGeerella, L . — $ $ of this Tineid Moth were Aying in some numbers, a dozen together, a foot from ground, at both Kessingland near Shrubland-farm on 28 June and Frostenden brick-fields, along with the uncommon Hover-fiy Ischyrosyrphus laternarius, Müll., on 4 July last.—CLAUDE M O R L E Y .

OBSERVATIONS

33

INEXHAUSTIBLE LOCALITIES (Trans, ii, 81 and 185).—One day in October 1948 I boxed a good many small winged Ants that had been blown in by the westerly breeze on a ground-floor window of Monks' Soham House, supposing them to be some common kind and yet seeming to appreciate something about their superficial form which, combined with the distinctly autumnal period, suggested unusualness. I was astonished to discover, upon a careful examination, that they were all males of Stenamma Westwoodi, Wst., which had hitherto been noticed in Suffolk at only Bentley Woods, Tostock (Trans, iii, 47) and Barnby Broad : hence presumed to be a very local species here.

Mr. Donisthorpe, who has confirmed the name, shows it to be widespread over all southern England up to only Leicestershire ; to occur in Kerry ; and to take its marriageflightso late in the year as Sept. or Oct. (British Ants 1915, p. 139). And yet, through thefive-and-fortyyears I have lived in this house, I have never seen it before !

DADDIES DANCING.—So little seems to be known about the habits of the small Tipulid Fly Erioptera stictica, Mg. (Trans, v, p. 196), that it is well to put upon record their behaviour in a sält-marsh immediately south of Walberswick Wood, a few hundred yards from the Suffolk coast on 16 July last. Here a cloud of about fifty males was dancing, just as do members of theLepidopterous genus Adela, at the tip of an Oak-branch nine feet from the ground very shortly before dusk. The next afternoon females were sitting abundantly on the old-painted door of a shed on the beach at Southwold. And on 4 July some females flew to light on Kessingland denes at 10 p.m.—CLAUDE MORLEY. THE ROMAN SNAIL IN CAMBS —Helix pomatia, Linn., has had a " nest " of at least sixty-four eggs in the soil of the sunniest part of my garden at Little Shelford this year. Near Linton a colony of H. aspersa, Müll., of the var. exalbida, Menk., suffers a high mortality in their adult stage, probably due to their conspicuously light shell-colour. Humming-bird Haivk-moths were here up to 25 October at a hardy, out-of-doors Plumbago flower, which I have previously noted as especialy attractive.—(Dr.) W. F. BUCKLE ; 29 November.

A THIRD SUFFOLK Todarodes sagittatus, LM.—On 30 January last I found a Squid, lying on Walberswick beach, that was about eighteen inches in length, apart from the tentacles which were about as long again. The general coloration was pale, rather milky and opalescent with a localfinepowdering of rust hue ; the boneless fins near the tail were also rusty. The eyes, about the size of half-crowns, had large black pupils and the iris of a brilliant iridescent emerald-green. Was it a specimen of the Sea Arrow ?—(Miss) JESSIE BROWTON. [Certainly: young.

Cf. Trans, iv, 22.—Ed.]

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A SECOND SUNFISH —Following closely upon the occurrence of the specimen of Orthago/iscus mola, L., three feet in length by rather over four in height, at Felixstow in late November 1948 (Proc. supra vi, p. xcix), came a second. T h i s was feet long by 3 feet 8 inches in expanse and weighirig about 6 cwt., washed up by recent storms on to the shore at Benacre on 14 December. T h e Fisheries Laboratory there told our Lowestoft Secretary on 29 of that month that the example was certainly Mola and discovered on 14th.

A T H I R D W H I P RAY.—The Local Press on 1 9 February last reported a specimen, identified by the Lowestoft Fisheries laboratory, of Myliobates aquila, L., of some lbs., to have been caught recently by the trawler Sarah Hide forty miles off Lowestoft. This, though hardly in " home waters," is evidently nearer Suffolk than other parts of the British coast. Our two previous County records, in 1867 and circa 1905, are recited at Trans, ii, 131.

ANOTHER Conger niger, Cuv. (Trans, ii, 122; vi, 153).—A female, mistaken for a " Codfish," was noticed on 7-12 November last lying asleep in shallow water of the River Orwell below 463 Wherstead Road in Ipswich, whose occupier of sixty-seven lassoed the Conger Eel with a copper-wire noose, but had considerable difficulty in hauling it ashore. For it was then ascertained to measure sixty-two inches in length ; though no weight is vouchsafed.—Local Paper, 14 Nov.

Clupea Sprattus, L., I N BRACKISH WATER.—' For the first time in living memory,' the daily press told us on 17 October, Sprats. found their way into Oulton Broad, presumably a day or two earlier ; ' the shoal may have got through the lock separating the salt water of the inner harbour at Lowestoft from the fresh Water of the Broad,' which latter has considerable salinity, probably some 9.1° / 0 0 , at least enough to sustain the Barnacles, Baianus improvisus, Drw. (Trans, v, 83). Well over two hundred Sprats were trawled there in three hours; but of the cause for their presence in so novel a Situation the Lowestoft Fisheries laboratory, who identified them, seems ignorant. Our Sprats' habits are to spawn far out at sea during early summer ; eggs float in May and June, late in which month the ensuing White-bait come into estuaries and are fished : Trans, ii, 121.—Ed. ANOTHER SUFFOLK Salmo salar, L. (Trans, ii, 118).—In his 1949 account of T h e Tollemaches of Helmingham and Ham, Major-general Tollemache records that, between 1765-70, Lionel fourth Earl of Dysart paid " A fisherman for a Salmon Catch'd in ye reiver Deben 10s. 6d."—H. R . LINGWOOD.

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T H E SMOOTH SNAKE.—While unsuccessfully hunting for larvae of Purple Emperors on 17 April last in a Sussex wood that shall be nameless, I had the good fortune to come across a specimen of Coronella Austriaca, Lac. This greatly pleased me, for I have never seen the species in Hampshire, where I believe it has been found in the New Forest near Ringwood. [We fear Wateridge did his devastating work all too thoroughly round Lyndhurst: cf. Trans, iii, 202.—Ed.] Slow-worms Anguis fragilis, L., often turn up in our Rowlands Castle garden, just over the Sussex border in Hants ; and quite recently one came to a sticky end in the jaws of o u r

Cat!—FRANK

C . STANLEY, 3 1

May.

BATRACHIAN ACOUSTICS.—The ventriloquistic vagaries of our friend Rana temporaria recently bothered me. I was Standing in conversation with a friend at the end of March when we heard a Strange sound, which we thought came from a hedge a little to the left of us : it sounded like the hoarse cooing of a Dove.

Next we heard it as though from a hedge to the rightofus, and my friend said it must emanate from some stränge Bird that was moving about; so we examined that hedge, but without solving the problem. Then the sound came from some Trees just in front of us. We were thoroughly puzzled ; but he suddenly exclaimed : " I have i t ! It must be that Frog sitting in your pond." And, indeed, so we found it to be. I feit quite humiliated by not recognising earlier the voice of a Frog that had taken up its abode in a little pond in my rockery. But the croak seemed to me unusual, and I quite thought it must be a Bird of sorts, or perhaps I am getting deaf: anyhow, its ventriloquistic powers completely deceived me.—(Canon) A. P. WALLER ; Waldringfield.

DOMESTIC S W A N N E R I E S . — T o those enumerated at Trans, vi, 177, may be added another at Somerleyton in 1583, when John Wentworth was given, doubtless for a " consideration," by the manorial lord John Jernegan all his swans and " aieres of Swannes " in Suffolk (Bodl. Charter, 1223). Does this old-spelled word aieres mean eyries which is modernly-spelled aeries, or aviaries ?

—Ed. SPRING BIRDS AT AMPTON.—On 23 March I saw a pair of Hawfinches feeding under a Hornbeam-tree : can you teil what they were eating ? [Hornbeam is among their favourite foods.— Ed.] Several Brimstone Butterflies were then on the wing. On 25th I saW a Fulmer Petrel with which I became familiar in Norfolk, Aying over a field here. On 27th the first Stone Curlews I have observed this year turned up, with four pairs of Greatcrested Grebes ; and the same day the first <J Widgeon I have ever seen was on the lake. Over Livermere Lake on 3 April were Aying a dozen House Martins, and there was one pair of Gadwell.— BRIAN RUTTERFORD ; 4 April.

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I heard and saw a Cuckoo at 5.40 a.m. on 24 March 1949 on Nacton Heath. It was heard again by another person in that locaiity at 7.15 a.m. the same morning.—C. FULCHER, 23 Frampton Road, Ipswich ( L O C A L PAPER).

SWIFTS' LOCAL S C A R C I T Y . — T o w a r d s t h e e n d o f 1 9 4 8 I s a w t h e

dead body of a Gannet lving on Walberswick beach ; it had been killed by a fish-hook in its throat. Is not this unusually far south for Sula Bassana, L., to be seen ? [Cf. Trans, ii, 158.] Can anyone explain why there have been so few Swifts along our coast this year ? I myself have seen only three or four, though in other years there have been goodly numbers Aying over my Walberswick garden.—(Miss) J . M. BROWTON, 10 October. [The scarcity of Micropus apus, L., during 1949 seems to have been fairly general; it may be 2scribed to that of their Insect-food, consequent upon the hot and dry season.—F.C.C.] BIRDS IN A MARTLESHAM G A R D E N , 1949.—Here arrived Willow Wren on 4 April; Chiff-chaff 5th ; Nightingale 7th ; and Cuckoo, as in 1943 and 1945, on i4th. More families were observed than is u s u a l ; especially delightful were the young Nightingales, Long-tailed Tits and White-throats that appeared bolder than previously and constantly came searching food in Tree-lupins dose to the house. One day many Blue Tits popped out of an upright pipe ; and families of Robin s, Great Tits, Blackbirds, Chaffinches and Bullfinches were noticed. One young Thrush was seen with two Green Woodpeckers and three Magpies which completely bowled over their parent when she discovered tit-bits.

For the first time we were visited by a Moorhen whose reception was but poor, for there is no Water and the Blackbirds m o b t e d it!

Twice a Bird, probably a Stonechat, with bright orange breast was seen. Numerous Siskins, the first ever seen here, were noted on 20 November—(Mrs.) ELSIE R. L I N G W O O D .

LOWESTOFT BIRDS.—Many more Pink-footed Geese Anser brachyrhynchus, Bail., have been here this 1948-9 winter than is usual, b u t few Duck, owing doubtless to the unusually mild weather. From the same cause, great flocks of Green Plovers Vanellus vulgaris, Bech., have arrived a little earlier than is u s u a l ; and last week I saw an exceptionally large one of Hooded Crows Corvus cornix, L., on plough, which seemed stränge for the time of year. In my garden, not far from the town's centre, Goldcrests Regulus cristatus, Koch., are among the less common visitors.

Magpies Pica caudata, Flem., are now a real nuisance in east Suffolk : before the 1939 war, their Observation was quite an exceptional occasion but now it is not unusual to see a dozen or so together. A farmer recently told me that, if any of his hens laid " r o u g h " amongst hedges, Magpies destroy them unless collected at once.—DAVID S. STEBBINGS ; 13 March.

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37

L O F T Y N E S T OF Troglodytes parvulus, KCH.—A Wren successfully incubated this year at 17J feet from the ground level,under the gutter of this house, and less than five feet above the floor of the balcony. Some time ago a Linnet, Acanthis cannabina, L., had similar success at nearly fifteen feet up a Cupressa tree, within a few feet of that balcony floor. No Swallows have been noted here at Little Shelford in Cambs. after 24 September this year.

My best wishes to the Society for its keen well-being in all branches, and " good hunting."—(Dr.) W . F . BUCKLE ; 2 9 November.

ESSEX Lullula arborea, L.—There is no doubt that we have had a pair of Wood Larks here for several years, difficult Birds to identify. T h i s year our Member, Robert M . Mangles, stalked up to seven yards of one with field-glasses and ascertained its species. T h e terrain is just what they like : rough Waste ground, with bushes and clumps of trees.—(Col.) CECIL G. M A N G L E S , Berechurch, near Colchester ; 28 April.

NUTHATCHS' M E T H O D S . — A good-sized Almond Tree is in the Lodge garden at Dovercourt next Harwich, and we find the opened nuts under various trees at some distance from it.

What can open them ? Even with a hammer they are very hard to break. Would it be a Magpie, of which plenty are about here ?

—(Mrs.) BLANCHE GRAVES ; 2 3 March. [The enclosed shells exhibit the work of Nuthatches. They are adepts at opening even the hardest of nuts and fruit-seeds. Their method is to fix the object firmly in a bark crevice and then strike it with the bill, putting the whole body's force into the blow. When a Nuthatch thus hammers a shell, the sound is audible for a long distance. In the present case they have attacked the shell's hinge, its most vulnerable point.—F.C.C.]—Nuts, fallen last autumn from Almond trees that were planted in Monks' Soham Rectory garden a score of years ago, are still lying beneath their own trees, quite untouched. This seems to indicate a local lack of this Bird, Sitta ccesia, Mey., in the parish. Nor has Mr. Morley ever seen it here.—(Canon) J. R. C H A P M A N , v.v. 2 5 March.

FEWER W A X W I N G S . — T h e district Forestry Officer reports three specimens of Bombycilla garrulus, L., near Santon Downham on 1 6 December 1 9 4 8 (S. C. PORTER) ; one <J in Bury on 3 January 1949 (H. J. BOREHAM). But that their Observation is a good deal rarer than their actual occurrence, from this N W . corner of the County to its SE. one, seems shown by records of a small flock beside Sutton Common on 20 February, a dead $ at East Bergholt on 14 March, and a congregation of some thirty-two about Leiston in mid-March (LINGWOOD). A flock of some thirty or forty was in playing-fields of the EAnglian School at Bury on 15 March (BOREHAM) ; and so late as 13 April one, that I handled finding it quite fresh with plumage in fine condition,

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was slain by a passing car on the main road just south of Saxmundham. Ticehurst had only two March records and adds " the WaxWing has occurred once in April, on 12th."—C. P. ELLIOTT, Glemham Hall, 13 April.

Turdus torquatus, L. (?), AT NEWBOURN.—I think, but am no sure, that I saw a juvenile Ring-Ouzel in my garden herelastweek.— LESLIE DOW, Newbourn ; 11 October.

OSPREY AT SNAPE.—Mr. Hayward of Saxmundham teils me that on 12 May he saw, on the Aide near Blackheath, a hawk-like Bird catching Fish which, from the description, must have been an Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, Linn.—(Lord) CRANBROOK ; 26 Ma A GOOSE NEW TO SUFFOLK.—The Times of 31 January 1949 announced that " a Lesser White-fronted Goose [Anser erythropu Linn ] a rare winter visitor to Britain from northern Scandinavia and Finland, has been shot at Breydon Marches by Mr. R. F Porter of Yarmouth. It is to be stuffed and exhibited at Norwich Castle Museum. Only eight examples have been recorded with certainty in Britain. One in Northumberland in 1886, and another in Lincolnshire in 1943. The remaining six were all seen by members of the Severn Wildfowl Trust on the New Grounds by the river near Berkeley in Glos. : two in the winter of 1945-6, three in 1946-7, and one this winter."—C. C. T. GILES. [Ticehurst examined small speeimens of A. albifrons, Scop., in Suffolk (1932, 254), and found them " certainly albifons and not erythropus."—Ed.] A FLOCK OF BLACK-WINGED STILTS.—My son David, when out on the afternoon of 22 April with the local scoutmaster L. Rowe who is a keen Naturalist, saw a small group of Stilts Himan iopus Candidus, Bonn. They have been Watched by vanous Natu alists here almost continuously for the last forty-eight hours, and a total of six has been ascertained to constitute the flock.

Throughout this period they have remained, where they were first observed on the Reydon marshes near the Buss Creek, which separates Reydon from Southwold. GEORGE BAKER, Reydon Post Office ; 24 April.—I have had a most interesting time, watching foür orfiveStilts that have taken up their quarters in the Buss Creek at Southwold. (Revd.) HENRY WALLER; 27 April [Great news, indeed ! Never before have more than isolated speeimens been noted in our County, and they total only nine thus : Boyton near Woodbridge 1822-3, Breydon 1823 and 1837 near Yarmouth and at Orfordness later, Bungay 1875 (set up and sold in 1901 : Trans, supra iv, 285), two singly at Holleslay 1900 and Aldeburgh-Thorp 1902. So this " vagrant to England, mainly the east and south coasts," after a hiatus of forty-seven years has returned at length in definite numbers.—Ed.] Mr.

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39

Cleminson first told me of the Stilts in Southwold marshes, and there I saw five of them on 24 April, pecking about in shallow water. I went again on 29th to see if they had moved, and could find only one ; later I was told all had flown off to Nottingham the previous evening. On enquiring how their destination could be ascertained, I learned that a pair had bred at a Nottingham sewage-farm last year. HoWever, one of them certainly remained at the Buss Creek where I watched it for a considerable time at fairly close quarters ; but I did not see it after 29 April. (Miss) J . M. B R O W T O N , Walberswick.

Grus cinerea, BECH., AT BLYTHBURGH.—There was a Crane among a large party of about fifty Herons of all ages upon the marshes just south of Blythburgh Lodge on 15 September, but I did not realise its presence tili it flew a few yards. T h e n I noticed the greater wing-expansion and lighter colour; but, as it settled behind some reeds, I could not see it again. Nor should I have been certain of its identity if Dr. and Mrs. Tucker had not told m? that they had observed a Crane at that spot upon several occasions during the same month.—(Miss) J. M. BROWTON, Walberswick ; 23 October. [We do not fancy Suffolk can yet show a half-dozen specimens during the last Century.—Ed.] A N EARLY AVOCET.—Though I was so fortunate as to observe Recurvirostra avosetta, L., at a Suffolk breeding site during the summer of 1948, I Was quite unprepared to renew my acquaintance with the Bird at such an early date as 12 March 1949. On that day, while scanning the mud-flats of one of our eastern rivers at low tide, I very distinctly saw an Avocet feeding in the running «bb of its central Channel. It is much to be hoped that this Bird is one of many that will successfully breed in Suffolk during the course of the presentyear.—R. W . KINGSLEY KEFFORD ; 1 4 March.

[A remarkable record ; fully a fortnight before any previous occurrence in our County.—Ed.] M O O R - H E N FAR FROM WATER.—A nest of Gallinula chloropus was found on 1 May in the centre of a well pastured meadow at Kiln-farm in Redlingfield. Upon being approached the Bird flew off, leaving six warm eggs in the nest that Was partly formed •of old Kaie stalks.—D. C. EDWARDS ; Wingfield College.

An English Partridge's nest, containing eight quite fresh eggs, was found at Pentlow which adjoins Suffolk on 5 March this year.—CHARLES H . ROW. BIRDS AT A BURY POND.—Our Member, Mr. A. E. Vine, observed the following species at the Bury St. Edmund's sugar-beet factory's Settling Pond, visited by him at least twice every week during the Passage Season of 1938 :—Mallard, 24 May s i x ; 19-21 July thirty-four; 10 Sept. circa thirty. Gadwell, 19 July one ;

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OBSERVATIONS

21 Julv two. Teal, 24 May two ; 19 July four or five; 21st fifteen; 10 Sept. circa thirty. Shoveller, 24 May t h r e e ; 19 July f o u r ; 21st fifteen; 10 Sept. circa twenty. Pochard, 14 July ten or fifteen. Common Snipe, 19 July one. Common Sandpiper, 14 July o n e ; 21st eleven; 10 Sept. ten. Green Sandpiper, 14 July five. Redshank, 14 July five ; 21st three.— A. D. G. SMART, Hon. See. Cambridge Bird Club ; 12 April 1949.

A L O S T ROOKERY.—No doubt can exist that Mr. Charles Partridge is quite correct in finding (EADTimes, 19 August 1922) that the famous diaryist " Squire Coe of fair West Row in the days of William and Mary " lived at Bargate-farm on the eastern spur of Clovenho, opposite Judes-ferry Inn on its western spur, in Mildenhall. This William Coe writes: " 2 6 May 1720.

Mr. John Seyliard and Mr. ffra. Howlet came past my house with a gunn and shot at the Rooks and the paper feil upon the mault house and began to smoke and blaze. But my sonns and 2 or 3 other boyes had got a ladder on that side of the house, goeing to get a Rooks nest, so rann up and pulled down the fire : in all likelyhood it would have done a mischief before a ladder could have been fetched " (EAQueries, xii, 11). I seem to remember there are now no Elm-trees near the place, wherein Corvus frugilegus, L., could breed.—CLAUDE M O R L E Y .

BIRDS WITHIN B U R Y B O R O U G H . — I have seen two or three Carrion Crows at West Stow, where of Hooded Crows I have counted seven or eight at the sewage Farm upon several occasions and watched them feeding on the beds. When perched in trees and about to crow, the latter's necks are stretched upward, then brought down with a simultaneous raising of the wings, to produce the vocal sounds that are also uttered when on the wing. Düring the last two years a new Rookery has been formed in some small Elm-trees in Risbygate Street: six nests in 1948 and 13 in spring It may be consequent upon top-lopping of Lime-trees c f 1949. in the churchyard, that used to harbour many nests. On 13 March last a black-and-white Rook passed over, having no white on its visible underside. It was banking and turning in a strong wind with one leg hanging as though damaged by shot. Magpies are increasing to large numbers at both Fornham and Chimney Mills • a flock of seven was perched in the trees skirtmg Mildenhall Road recently. I noted six Goldfinches at Haberdon on 14 January last, some 25-30 there on 4 February, and some 15-20 at the Mildenhall Road building-site on 15 January. They are certainly increasing at both, as Well as at Fornham Martin.

I estimated there to be between 160 and 200 Fieldfares gathenng Hawthorn-berries on a hedge beside rough meadows by the Mildenhall Road on 4 February last. Great Woodpeckers nested by the Rougham Road on 26 June 1948 ; and I watched others

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41

that were hunting on telegraph-poles [Cf. Trans, vi, 263.—Ed.] beside the railway that day. A Green Woodpecker was in Friars Lane on 24 January. Herons come well within the Borough ; they are to be seen annually throughout the winter on low meadows, both between Haberdon and the Mildenhall Road near the River Lark. I have counted as many as twelve Redshanks at a time on the beds at West Stow : and what a noise is made when they both rise and alight.—H. J. BOREHAM, Bury ; 25 March.

KITTIWAKES IN SUFFOLK BEFORE 1 3 3 3 . — A s a contribution towards our Object 3, " Facts respecting the comparative past rarity of Animals in Suffolk," Rissa tridactyla, L., may be instanced.

Thomas Gardner's 1754 " Historical Account of Dunwich," prints a 1333 list of property-rents paid in each parish, 12d. being gathered " de Petro Helmeth pro terra Kytewytakey " in that of the now erosed St. Leonard (p. 34). Quite obviously this parcel of land embraced a quay about which Kittiwakes (ASaxon, which has no K, cyta meaning a kite and zvaccor, vigilant) were sufficiently abundant to have accorded it a local name.— CLAUDE MORLEY.

A M I D - O P P I D A N Sciurus vulgaris, BORK.—Three days ago my Wife while sitting in our garden, which is situated in the midst of the small toWn of Eye and circummured by noisy humans and odoriferous motor-vehicles, saw a Red Squirrel rapidly ascend one of the three Sycamore-trees. He was a fine specimen with profuse and upward-curling tail, and long ears. In that tree he sat for some time, his position probably enforced by the presence of our white West Highland dog, sitting at the tree's foot. Such a Squirrel in the midst of civilisation must be a rare sight in these days. I have just seen the two-winged Fly Bombylius major, L., in the same garden.—(Dr.) J. E. M. BARNES, Willow House, Eye ; 29 March.

YELLOW-NECKED M I C E SPREAD.—Apodemus flavicollis, Wint., was found in a vinery at Great Glemham to-day. I have never seen it here before, though I have looked for many years. From our records [Trans, i, 152 (Tostock), 239 ; ii, p. xviii ( T h o r n d o n ) ; iii, 214 (Troston), 309 (South Higham), cxiv (Mendlesham, where another adult Was trapped on 9 April 1949, after nibbling apples.—A.M.). Cf. T r . Norf. Nat. Soc. vii, 1904, 722.], it is obviously widely distributed throughout the County ; but less common than A. sylvaticus, Linn. (Lord) CRANBROOK ; Glemham Magna, 31 Dec. 1948.—Two more were found here during 1-7 May. Id, 9 May.—The recent arrival of the Trans. S N S . reminds me that I ought to have reported the catch of two A. flavicollis at his house in Melton by Dr. Martin of the County Laboratory. At Christmas he found there that decorative Holly berries gradually disappeared; in early January a heap of

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them was discovered, along with evidence of a R o d e n t ; so he baited mouse-traps with the berries and, after some days, caught two of these Mice which I have examined. I do not know if it be a common Animal in this area.—NORMAN R. K E R R ; 2 3 Feb. 1949.

SQUIRRELS AND M E L A N I C RABBITS.—In Barking Wood on 1 8 September I disturbed a black specimen of Oryctolagus cuniculus, L. ; and, having previously observed three or four similar Animals in a field near Saxmundham, I would like to know if these are escapes or genuine melanic varieties. If the former, why do we not see Rabbits of many colours, quantities of which have been liberated at Finborough Parva ? Also, on 6 August, I saw two Sciurus vulgaris, Bork., in the same Barking Wood.—W. T H U R L O W , F.Z.S. ; 2 5 Sept.

[Fifty years ago totally BLACK Rabbits were quite common on the Suffolk Breck about Brandon and T u d d e n h a m : any bunch of fifty Rabbits would have at least one black one in its midst. And, up to the 1914 war, such occurred occasionally singly round the heaths at Blythburgh, Butley, &c. T h e y are no more than a mere melanic form of the common grey Rabbit and have quite gradually decreased through my own life-time.—Ed.] H A R E ' S H O R R I D D E A T H . — I was talking to a neighbouring farmer about Magpies' destruction of game eggs, &c., when he told me that, while working in a field just recently, he saw some Magpies mobbing a Hare [Lepus Europäern, Pall.]. First they pecked out his eyes, rendering him blind ; next they " maddled " him ; and finally began to eat him. I have heard of a similar occurrence before, but never met with anyone who had actually witnessed such an execution.—W. G. MUNNINGS, T h e Rookery, Weybread, Suffolk; 6 March 1949. [The victim must have been sick : I doubt if even a Crow could successfully attack a strong and healthy Hare.—CRANBROOK.] A N O T H E R Balcenoptera musculus, L I N N . — I t is always difficult to ascribe the populär account of " whales " to their correct species ; and one can but suppose that described by Blomefield's " History of Norfolk " to have been a Common Rorqual from its comparative frequency off the EAnglian coast. Suffolk records are from Downham Reach of the Orwell by Freston Tower in 1816; Kessingland 1899; and Aldeburgh 1918 (Trans, ii, 33).

In the present case, John de Pakenham, who had been Steward to the Ely Bishopric before he was lord of Netherhall manor at Pakenham, near Bury in 1265, entered the Court of the Exchequer one day during 1255, when King Henry III himself was in session and claimed a monstrous " fish." It had been taken in the fee of one of that Bishop's wards, whose ancestors held right to wreck of the sea there. T h e King replied, ordering John to

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43

produce the charter whereupon his claim was based, which John handed over. It was then asked whether it had bcen taken on the land or in the sea : answered in the sea but not far from land and alive, six boats being overturned in the water before it could be caught. T o which Henry I I I replied that, since it was acknowledged to have been alive in the sea, it could not be wreck ; that he would further consider the matter ; and the cause was adjourned to the parliament [of which Dugdale considers the first to have assembled in 1265, so the term is doubtless here applied to Curia Regis]. Surely none of the true Pisces could have capsized such a number of boats. Blomefield gives the account under Westhall manor of Dersingham; and the incident occurred doubtless somewhere on the Wash's south coast, wherever that may have extended in those days.â&#x20AC;&#x201D;CLAUDE M O R L E Y .