Lepidopterous Insects. 54-S 



cies of ferns ; among the host of which, Polypodium Z)ryopr 

 teris ranks as my favourite. The other brook winds its way 

 through a steep but grassy valley ; and, when it has joined the 

 former torrent, it immediately conceals itself in a wood, which 

 stretches from the mountain top to its very base. Before me* 

 hill rose beyond hill in every fantastic shape; whilst, here 

 and there, glimpses of rich mountain pasture burst upon the 

 sight ; surrounded on all sides by copses, and gracefully orna- 

 mented with beech. I have sometimes almost fancied that I 

 could be poetical in such a spot : I have generally been 

 tempted to spend too long a time there. On this occasion* 

 after satisfying my eating propensities, I was up and. doing; 

 and was gratified to find, in the little mountain pastures before 

 described, Hesperia malvag in great profusion ; but, as it was 

 late in the season, my specimens were not good. In mount- 

 ing the hill, on my return, I found a solitary specimen of 

 Scabiosa columbaria L., which, I find, Smith, in his E/iglisk 

 Flora, vol. i. p. 195., has described as " rare in Scotland 

 and mountainous countries." Now, it is in the little valleys 

 among the mountains that I find it solely; and, in the valley 

 I have just been describing, in the greatest profusion. By the 

 time I had reached the descent, at the opposite side of the 

 hill, I had obtained a view of my own valley and house, stretched 

 out far beneath my feet : I had begun to grow tired, and was 

 not altogether satisfied with my day's work. As I was der 

 scending, a butterfly passed me ; and, fancying it to be a new 

 species, I called to one of my junior companions to pursue it. 

 He followed it for a considerable distance into a rather extent 

 sive bog. Here, instead of the butterfly, something in the 

 grass attracted his attention ; of which he soon let me know, 

 by shouting, with all his might, " Pinguicula ! " I had walked 

 over almost every bog in my neighbourhood before, in the 

 expectation of finding the plant, and had given up the search 

 as useless. Here, however, I found it (P. vulgaris), gemming 

 the grass with its rich blossoms, in great profusion. By the 

 time I had set a few specimens in my collecting-book, I found 

 that my companions had grown impatient, and decamped, 

 and had left me alone to my musings. As I was very list- 

 lessly dragging on after them, by a hedgerow of stunted 

 beech, I was attracted by two small black moths, as I took 

 them to be, that were pursuing each other through the foliage 

 of the trees in endless mazes. As the finding of the pin- 

 guicula, so unexpectedly, had somewhat inspirited me, I 

 immediately gave a shout, which arrested the progress of my 

 companions, and brought two of them back to my assistance. 



