HA RD IV 1 CKE 'S S CIENCE - G SSIP. 



cyanide-bottle and a corked box. We tackled him. 

 "Any Sponsa about? Wy bless yer, 'eaps on 'em. 

 Thur's one on that thur tree now." Our blood was 

 up, we longed to dart at it, but it was that man's tree, 

 and we refrained. He told us he had taken 1 20 in 

 three nights, and that his usual nightly haul was from 

 twelve to twenty. We asked him how many trees 

 he " painted." "Wall," he said, "I begun doin' 

 about thirty, but w'en they're plentiful I doaint 

 have no time to look at more'n about six trees ; there's 

 ten on a tree sometimes." We were roused to mad 

 excitement ; in half an hour we had taken a dozen on 

 as many trees. Many flew off, and that night we 

 had no nets. It was now 8.30, and we met our 

 friend going home. " They're ovur for to-noight," 

 said he. We stayed another half-hour, but took only 

 a couple on his trees. 



Fig. 17. Dark-crimson Underwing Moth (Catocala s/>ousa), 



The next night, having found that Sponsa flew 

 early, we sugared earlier, and before dark had taken 

 another dozen Sponsa, and two or three Promissa, 

 besides the rare Subseaua. We had intended going 

 to the Isle of Wight on the 15th for Hyale and 

 Helice ; but another Sponsa hunt was not to be 

 winked at. That night we captured twenty-one 

 Sponsa and two Promissa, while the multitudes of 

 Pyramidal were as usual a perfect pest. 



To see whether any Sponsa are settled on sugar 

 needs some practice, when their wings are folded over 

 their backs — especially in the dusk — as the upper 

 wings resemble closely the bark of the trees ; when, 

 however, the wings are partly expanded — showing the 

 splendid crimson bands — I can hardly imagine a 

 more exciting sight ; the very thought of it makes me 

 thrill even now. Our mode of proceeding was to pill- 



box the moths, pour in a drop of chloroform, and 

 when they were quiet, pin and remove them to the 

 corked box. When we got home they were stabbed 

 with oxalic acid. If they were too wary for the pill- 

 box or cyanide-bottle, we netted them, and then 

 pill-boxed. We thus found half a dozen pill-boxes 

 ample. 



At length, on the 16th, we left Brockenhurst with 

 sad hearts, took the train to Lymington, and steamed 

 across the Solent, at the rate of four miles an hour, 

 under a hot sun, to Yarmouth, in company witli a 

 flock of sheep and a fat farmer, who was much 

 wrapped up and enduring all the agonies of sea-sick- 

 ness. We were greeted by numerous Rdusa, Cardui, 

 and Polychloros, besides innumerable Atalanta. 

 Having "humped" our knapsack, we .marched on 

 the west side of the Yar to Freshwater. Wishing to 

 be near the sea, we scorned the respectable Red 

 Lion Inn, and put up at the Albion, Freshwater 

 Bay, where we were duly charged next morning. 

 That afternoon we walked towards Alum Bay, 

 but a strong gusty wind prevented anything 

 more than a grand view from the beacon above 

 the Nodes, and the capture of a few Corydon 

 and Edusa. As the weather continued un- 

 favourable the next morning, and it was incum- 

 bent upon us to be in London by Saturday, we 

 threw over our plan of walking to Shanklin, 

 Ventnor,and Cowes, and determined to have 

 another evening at Sponsa 's headquarters. We 

 therefore went back to Yarmouth, where we 

 netted many Edusa, Galathea, Cardui, and a 

 hybernated Helice, and then returned to Brocken- 

 hurst. We were rewarded : over two dozen 

 Sponsa requited our endeavours before 7.45, 

 when the moon shone brilliantly, and the 

 underwings retreated to the tops of the oaks. 



This brought our Hampshire expedition to a 

 close, and the next lepidoptera I saw — three 

 days after — were some Edusa, Io, Cardui, 

 &c, in the picture-galleries of The Hague, 

 Haarlem, and Amsterdam, calmly flitting 

 round and settling on bouquets which, though 

 painted a couple of centuries ago by Mignou, 

 Ruysch, and others, still retain much of their original 

 freshness. 



The following is a list of thirty-one diurni 

 we saw in the New Forest : — Rhamm, Edusa, 

 Brassicie, Papa, Napi, Galathea, sEgeria, Ilyper- 

 antlius, Megara, Semele, Tithonns, Janira, 

 Pamphilus, Sibylla, Atalanta, Io, Polvehloros, 

 Urtiae, Cardui, Iris, Quercus, Betuhe, Adippc, 

 Aglaia, Paphia, Phleas, Argiolus, Alexis, Artaxerxes, 

 Sylvanus, and JJuea. We were informed that 

 this year had been bad for Valezina, and especially 

 for Sibylla. Of the latter we only saw half 

 a dozen, while ten days before they were abun- 

 dant in Fssex. Orion and Balis had been 

 plentiful. 



