Humming-Bird Hawk-Moth in TyroneAuthor(s): G. GillespieSource: The Irish Naturalists' Journal, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Jan., 1965), p. 22Published by: Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25536927 .

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22

ZOOLOGICAL NOTES

ARANEUS UMBRATICUS CLERCK 1757 (ARANEAE, CHELICERATA) IN COUNTY CORK

Although the spider Araneus umbraticus Clerck is stated to be frequently found all over the British Isles (Locket & Millidge, 1953) there are, according to

Carpenter (1898), only two Irish records from Borris in County Carlow and from Killarney respectively.

A hibernating female 13 mm long, in fa torpid condition, was found in a small hollow on the underside of loose bark of a recently felled oak growing in

marshland on Fota Island in East County Cork, H5, on 11th January, 1964. The cryptozoic habits of this somewhat flattened species of the genus

Araneus*, which is said to be nocturnal (Savory, 1935) possibly accounts for the scarcity of Irish records, for, although its orb-web may be in evidence, the spider only comes out of hiding at dusk to collect insects trapped in the w^b during the day.

GERALD A. WALTON. Department of Zoology, University College, Cork.

REFERENCES

Carpenter, G. H. ,(1898). A list of Spiders of Ireland. Proc. Roy. Irish Acad. (Ser. II), 128-210.

Locket, G. H. and Millidge, A. F. (1953). British Spiders, Z. Ray Soc. (No. 137), London.

Savory, T. H. (1935). The Spiders and Allied Orders of the British Isles. Warne. London.

HUMMING-BIRD HAWK-MOTH IN TYRONE

The 4th of June, 1964, was cold and windy with frequent showers: in a fine interval at 7.15 p.m. I watched a fine Macroglossum stellatarum L. working a bank of Erinus in my rockery. I could not find it on any further occasion. The last record I have for Ballygawley was 19th May, 1945.

G. GILLESPIE. Ballygawley, Co. Tyrone.

SMALL TORTOISESHELL, EARLY BREEDING DATE

On 7th April, 1964, I observed two colonies of small tortoiseshell larvae, Aglais urticae, L. on young stinging nettles, Urtica dioica, in the shelter of a wall near Strangford, Co. Down (H38). They were approximately second or third moult stage so that the parents must have been out at the end of February or early March, when the weather was quite mild. The weather had been cold and dry for several days prior to finding the larvae. On the following two days

we found several adults hibernating in old buildings in the Strangford area.

J. W. BURDEN. Jorda,nhill College, Southbrae Drive, Glasgow W.3.

REVIEWS

The World of Birds. A comprehensive guide to general ornithology by James Fisher and Roger Tory Peterson. 288 pages. ?5 5s. Od. Macdonald, London.

This book is a delight tand must be regarded as a tremendous credit to all those who have taken part in its production, not least the publishers. The quality of colour reproduction is outstanding and the arrangement of the text in relation to the illustrations is masterly. It draws one on from page to< page, and the print is most easy on the eyes. It is a long time since I have handled a book of this kind, which is also aesthetically so pleasing. Mr Fisher and Mr Peterson must feel more than pleased with the product of their five year's work

?-and, of course, without them and their abundant enthusiasm for, and devotion to birds, we would not have had this book at all.

There have been other books that have tried a comprehensive survey of the bird world, but I do not think that there are any which have used the particular approach to this one. The authors have set about analysing the 8,580 "good full species" of birds in order "to present birds as animals, in an illustrated introduction to their general natural history, from important ap

proaches that have inspired ornithologists through the yeaSrs." The hook is in two parts, the first of which presents the many sidedness

of ornithology. The authors have been concerned to show "their beloved science"

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