Hudson. — Entomology in New Zealand. 391 



a tent a most uncomfortable, not to say highly inefficient, 

 habitation, this condition being further enhanced by the 

 rising of the mountain torrents, which renders retreat to the 

 nearest house — twenty miles away — impossible. I believe, 

 however, that foot-bridges have been placed over all the 

 larger torrents since my last visit (1898) ; but, notwithstand- 

 ing this, I can assure you from extensive experience that, 

 except to a person of unusually robust health and heroic 

 temperament, the tableland of Mount Arthur is not a place 

 at which to stay without a house of some description. 



During January, 1893, I visited Castle Hill, a well-known 

 locality on the main road between Christchurch and Hokitika. 

 This spot may be said to mark the beginning of the forests, 

 which become denser and more luxuriant as the West Coast 

 is approached. The weather here was very good, and the 

 heat extreme ; in fact, it is without doubt the hottest place I 

 have ever visited in New Zealand. Our camp was situated 

 at an elevation of 2,500 ft., and several interesting species 

 occurred in the surrounding birch forest. The mountains 

 here are fairly high, Mount Enys, the highest point attained, 

 having an elevation of over 7,000ft. On the summit of this 

 mountain I observed a large number of a species of ladybird 

 (Coccinella. novce-zcalandice). They w r ere extremely abundant, 

 and swaiming in all directions over the rocks. It is known 

 that these insects frequently migrate for long distances in 

 great swarms, and on one occasion it is stated that the dome 

 of St. Paul's Cathedral in London was red with ladybirds. 

 From these facts I am inclined to think that the large assem- 

 blage of ladybirds I observed on the summit of Mount Enys 

 was a migratory swarm, as there was no vegetation there to 

 support the large number of aphides, or plant-lice, which 

 would have been requisite to have supplied so many ladybirds 

 with food during their larval condition. 



The spur leading up to Mount Enys is a very long one, 

 but extremely broad and easily traversed. It is really an 

 extensive mountain-chain ; and one could walk many miles 

 along the Craigieburn Range at elevations of from 6,000 ft. 

 to 7,000 ft. There were only a few patches of snow on this 

 range at the time of our visit, and on one of these I saw a 

 number of birds with rather long legs and bill, short tail, 

 greyish wings and back, and cream-coloured breast. These 

 birds were busily engaged pecking at some objects in the 

 snow, but I was unable to ascertain the nature of their quest. 



During this trip I secured a few specimens of Erebia 

 pluto, at elevations of about 4,800 ft. They were larger than 

 those taken on the mountains in the Nelson Province, but 

 smaller than some I subsequently captured on the ranges at 

 the head of Lake Wakatipu. Although four or five new 



