tions, I suppose as a specific character, the denticulated margin of the posterior femora : this, in all probability, will only prove a sexual distinction, as I have this spring captured about seventy specimens, and found it to exist in only thirty. It is also not confined to this species, for in thirty-four specimens of the vernalis, taken but a few days ago on Sherwood Forest, it exists in fourteen.

Anobium tessellatum, (Death-watch.) The peculiar noise which this little beetle makes by beating its head in rapid succession againstthe wood it inhabits, has been regarded amongst the superstitious as an omen of death. It is generally in April and May when its knockings are most frequent; and it is now generally understood to be a signal by which they are enabled to find each other in their dark labyrinths. If two of them are placed in separate pill-boxes at a short distance, they will frequently answer each other for a considerable time. They infest houses where there is much old timber, and trees in a state of decay, and are exceedingly destructive.

Gryllotalpa vulgaris. The mole-cricket, an insect of very peculiar construction, is an inhabitant of moist gardens and the banks of small streams, where it throws up small ridges in its subterranean progress. When it is abundant, it does incredible mischief to the horticulturist

by destroying the roots of vegetables. It seldom comes abroad, except in evenings during the spring, when, as Gilbert White, in his "Natural History of Selborne," says, "They begin to solace themselves with a low, dull, jarring note, continued for a long time without interruption." It appears to be confined to the southern portion of Britain. Report, however, says they are to be found on Oxton bogs, in this county; but I have not yet acquired a specimen.