Waxwing in Co. TyroneAuthor(s): Nevin H. FosterSource: The Irish Naturalist, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Feb., 1914), p. 51Published by: Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25524228 .

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19 H?. Notes. 51

Waxwing in Co. Tyrone.

Mr. Henry Wilson sent me a Waxwing, Ampelis garrulus, shot on

Christmas Day (1^13) at Stuart Hall, Co. Tyrone. The bird, which

on dissection proved to be a male, weighed exactly 2 ounces. This is

the first recorded instance of this species having been observed in Co.

Tyrone.

Hillsborough, Co. Down. Nevin H. Foster.

REVIEWS. INSECT TRANSFORMATIONS.

The Life-story of Insects, By Geo. H. Carpenter. Pp. 134, with

illustrations. Cambridge : University Press, 1910. Price is. net.

This little book is one of the most recent of the excellent series of

popular Cambridge Manuals of which no fewer than eighty volumes have

already appeared. Professor Carpenter must have had a most difficult

task in compressing the essential points of so vast a subject within the

limits of a book of this size. It is evident that his practical experience of the problems of insect life has not failed him in the successful accomp lishment of the task. In nine clearly written chapters, the author reviews

the life-histories of the various orders of insects, with special reference

to their wonderful transformations. In the chapter "

From Water to

Air," there is an excellent and well-illustrated account of the changes in

the life of a typical dragon-fly, and the chapters dealing with larvae and

pupae of metabolic insects are also of great interest.

The weird question as to whether we should regard the larval stage in

the higher insect groups as an indication of the worm-like nature of their

ancestors, or as an evidence of divergent evolution, is treated at some length The author believes, with the majority of students, that

" whatever differ

ences of opinion may prevail on points of detail, the general explanation of insect metamorphosis as the result of divergent evolution in the two

active stages of the life-story must assuredly be accepted." In connection with the development of the insect wing, we should

prefer the use of the word "

ingrowth "

to "

inpushing "

where invagi nation is understood. Another small point is that the use of English names for the various leg-segments is scarcely an improvement on the

generally accepted Latin terms. We have failed to find a single misprint in the book, which is printed in the clear type of the series, and is excellently illustrated. Some of these drawings originally appeared in Professor

Carpenter's useful economic reports on Irish insect pests.

J. N. H,

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