124 THE entomologist's record. 



In the Cantabrians. August, 1914. 



By ROSA E. PAGE, B A. 



" blest seclusion from a jarring world 

 Which he thus occupied enjoys." — Cowpee. 



" That is my highest joy, that I am beyond the reach and press of the world. "^ 



— Luffmann's Quiet Days in Spain. 



How true the above quotations were to prove I little dreamt when 

 I left England towards the end of July to join Mr. Page and Mr.. 

 Muschamp in Spain. I found them both very disappointed with their 

 fortnight's work at Pajares, where there seemed to be practically 

 nothing to do, entomologically speaking. We therefore decided tO' 

 make a move to Braiiuelas, a village on the direct line to Corufia, and 

 right among the Montanes de Leon. Reaching Leon about 10 p.m., 

 we supped at the Station Fonda anjl procu':'ed a few hours sleep in 

 the dependance, picking up the Madrid-Corufia train at 4 a.m. 



The journe}' from Leon to Corufia was most delightful, and showed 

 us quite a new type of scenery. The reddish-brown soil glowed with 

 ruddy hues as a magnificent sunrise gradually lit it up, the Montanes 

 de Leon forming a low line along the distant horizon and standing- 

 out in much darker lines from the lighter tints of the canijio. As the 

 train crawled slowly westward we passed village after village 

 of sundried bricks (a composition of mud and straw), the exact 

 tint of the soil, with here and there trees of a variety of poplar, the 

 branches of which had been lopped in such a manner as to leave a 

 regular series of tufts from base to crown. 



Arriving at Brannelas, we found there was no accommodation for 

 visitors except at the Cantina of Roman Fidalgo opposite the station, 

 a very dirty place, with food " en suite," but the beds a little better 

 than one might have expected. The village itself is not so dirty as 

 those we passed through in the Albarracin Sierras, but water is a rare 

 commodity and sanitation non-existent. The old village, about ten 

 minutes' walk, is still more primitive, and quite impossible. 



We found the rock here a carboniferous one, as at Pajares, and the 

 rounded hills of only slight elevation covered with various species of 

 heather and two or three varieties of a large-flowered Ki-oiUniii, which 

 gave us hopes of finding Coenonyinpha dorits var. viatlwiri. On July 

 blst we followed the waters of the valley from their head, working the 

 marshes on both banks. Here Coenonymjiha I'jiJiioiih's appeared in 

 numbers, a fair proportion of both sexes being fresh. We found the 

 larger proportions of the specimens in the drier part of the marsh, and 

 especially in a small grassy patch close to the stream. They fly on 

 the level of the tops of the reeds, and one has to follow up each insect 

 as soon as spotted, no easy task, with one's feet sinking into the bog at 

 each step ; but about midday they become lazy and lie slightly on 

 their sides ovipositing, in which condition they are very easy to pick 

 up. I noticed, as at La Granja, an occasional Kpiiu'iihile tithonus 

 flying with them, and a "blue" or two from the higher slopes. 



The dark green of the heather forms an admirable background for 

 the azure sheen of crowds of Plebeius arf/iis var. casaicii^, both sexes in 

 very good order, and many with very red spots round the bases of the 

 wings ; they are rather larger than the Pajares specimens. Of other 

 insects there were only Pont la dajiUdice (mostly over), Culicis edum, 



