XLII.—Notes on the Godwits (Limosa)

A mongst the Waders, a class of birds I have had unusual opportunities of watching for many years along the shores of Kingsbridge Estuary, South Devon, the Bar-tailed Godwits have always been a great attraction. The striking change of plumage from winter to summer, their erratic appearance at the times of migration, and the desire to raise this group above the level of that hen-pecked one of Phalaropes, to which they have been likened in their habits of courtship and nidification, have induced me to follow the Godwit in his coming in and going out ever since I could tell one bird from another.     

Reasserting the priority of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Hypericum cordiforme</Emphasis> A.St.-Hil. (Hypericaceae) over <Emphasis Type="Italic">H. cordatum</Emphasis> (Vell.) N.Robson

Priority concerning the publication of St. Hilaire’s name Hypericum cordiforme over H. cordatum is confirmed since its effective publication in Flora Brasiliae Meridionalis (1828) predates the publication of Vellozo’s name Receveura cordata, the basionym of H. cordatum, in Florae fluminensis (1829). We also provide a second-step lectotypification for H. cordiforme and a lectotypification and epitypification for Receveura cordata. Hypericum cordiforme var. genuinum is for the first time determined to be an invalid name, and H. cordatum subsp. kleinii is placed in the synonymy of H. cordiforme.     

VIII.—Some Remarks upon the Food of Plycatchers (Muscicapidæ).

Although the number of specimens examined was small, the results show that:—
1. The bulk of the food consists of insects, and of these the majority are injurious.
2. No honey-bees were found in my of the stomachs.
3. The percentages of parasitic and beneficial insects was small.
4. The economic status of the two species investigated may be expressed as follows: 80 per cent. of their food is beneficial, 6 per cent. injurious, and 14 per cent of a neutral Uature.     

Malalcahuello ocaresi gen. & sp. n. (Elateridae,Campyloxeninae)

Malalcahuello ocaresi gen. n. & sp. n., from Chile, is described and compared with Campyloxenus pyrothorax Fairmaire & Germain, 1860.