68 THE REPOET OF THE No. 36 



On a day in July, when passing through the intervale, I saw a good-sized dark 

 caterpillar scuttling away before me. I captured it, and in a day or two it turned 

 to a chrj-salis. Early in August there came from it the rare an^ (beautiful moth, 

 Darapsa versicolor, Harris. The specimen is now in the Provincial Museum at 

 Quebec. The food-plant of D. versicolor is the Button Bush (Oephalanthus occi- 

 dentalis, L.). The late Rev. Dr. George D. Hulst bred this species from the egg, 

 and described it in all its stages. (See Can. Ent., Vol. X., p. 64.) 



That beautiful butterfly, the Baltimore Fritillary {Euphydryas Phaeton, 

 Drury) was found there. Its larvae are gregarious and hibernate in a web. Their 

 food-plant is the "Turtle Head" {Chelone glabra, L.). 



Looking down upon this intervale, from one of the neighbouring hills, one 

 calm summer night, I witnessed a wonderful spectacle: spread out, as it were, over 

 the valley, was an undulating sheet of fire. Myriads of the beetle PJiotinus coruscus, 

 L., were sporting at a height of a few yards from the ground, and so multitudinous 

 vrere they that their flashes seemed continuous. 



Passing along the banks of the stream in its broader reaches, the water plants 

 took one's attention. 



There was that remarkable dioecious stemless plant the V allisneria spiralis , L., 

 with leaves like green ribbons growing under water. Its inconspicuous female 

 blossoms are attached to stalks sometimes three or four feet long. They rise to 

 the surface and open. The clustered male blossoms are held in conical spathes 

 below. In due time they break away from these and surround the female blossoms. 

 When the latter are pollinated, their stalks coil up like a spring, and draw them 

 under, that the seed may be ripened beneath the surface. 



Favourite plants with the landscape painter are the Arrowhead (Sagittaria 

 variabilis, Engelm.) and the Yellow-lily {NupJiar advena, Ait). The clean-cut 

 upright leaves of the former, and the large oval leaves of the latter, show well in 

 a river scene. 



Another fine plant is the Wild Calla or Water Arum {Calla palustris, L.). Its 

 white spathe throws out its spadix, which is thickly set with small greenish 

 blossoms; and its heart-shaped shining leaves and generally trim appearance are 

 very attractive. 



After passing through the intervale, the stream ran through two or three 

 farms, and then discharged into a beautiful lake which was about a mile long, and 

 was embosomed in t/he hills. 



At the mouth of the stream there was a growth of alders rooted in the shallows 

 of the lake, and in theae shrubs the handsome Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius 

 phosniceus) built its nest. 



Amongst the alders was a small island. Landing upon this, one day I nearly 

 trod upon two eggs of the great Northern Diver {Gavia irnher), which were laid 

 upon the hare ground. They were fine eggs, four inches long, two and five-eighths 

 inches broad, of a brownish green hue blotched with dark brown. 



Of the feathered ichthyophagists that frequented the stream and lake, two were 

 pre-eminent, monarchs of the waters — the Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) and 

 the Northern Diver {Garia irriber). Their methods of fishing were very different, 

 and there appeared to be no rivalry between them. The Diver was all activity. 

 Its trim form, its close plumage, its strong limbs set well back, its large webbed 

 feet, beepoke the powerful swimmer and diver ; and woe to the fish that came within 

 its ken. The Heron, on the other hand, was a model of dignified repose. It 

 seemed to rely upon the principle — "Everything comes to those who wait." It took 



