1915 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 91 



MOUNTAINS AND HILLS. 



Rev. Dr. Thomas W. Fyles, Ottawa. 



In that stretch of country which lies between Lake Memphremagog and the 

 Eiver St. Lawrence, the natural elevations are striking features of the scenery, and 

 add much to its beauty. A continuation or spur of the Vermont passes through 

 the Townships of Sutton, Brome, Potton, and Bolton; and in the lower country 

 rise solitary peaks of remarkable formation — Shefford Mountain, Yamaska, Eouge- 

 mont, The Pinnacle, Beloeil, Montarville, Mount Royal, and others. At the foot of 

 Mount Royal, and rapidly extending around it, lies the City of Montreal. In this 

 city, in the year 1861, I took up my abode. 



Montreal, at that time, was a comparatively small and quiet place. A few 

 particulars will help you to realize the change that has taken place in it. 



Where St. Greorge's Church, and the Canadian Pacific Railway Station now 

 stand, there was then an orchard of Pomme gre and Fameuse apples, skirted by a 

 lane which bore the name of St. Janvier Street. To the east of this was a large 

 cemetery. Between Dorchester Street and Sherbrooke Street were vacant fields. The 

 City of Westmount was then undreamt of. 



The Grand Trunk Railway ran from a small and shabby station, on Bonaventure 

 Street, to the main line at Lachine. Travellers for the east had to find their way to 

 Point St. Charles as best they could. 



In 1862 I began to form the collection of Lepidoptera which is now in the Pro- 

 vincial Museum at Quebec. My hunting-ground was the Mountain, and a productive 

 one I found it. To reach it, I walked along the Cote-desi-Neiges road, as far as the 

 grounds of Judge McCord, who had a house built in form of a Grecian temple, with 

 portico and columns. I had permission to pass through the premises at any time. 

 Beyond the garden fence the mountain rose, steep, and rough, and thicketty. 



One day, in the height of summer, I crossed the mountain hrow, and a charming 

 ing scene lay before me. There were a sugar bush, cultivated land, and a peaceful 

 dwelling. The sun was bright; the air was still; and — 



" The insect world was on the wing." I was well acquainted with the British 

 Rhopalocera, and had a warm apprecation of its beauties, but here a new insect 

 fauna was represented. 



Dancing over the meadow-land, were scores of butterflies 'of the species Argyn- 

 nis cyiele Fabr. ; and amongst them — smaller and less stately, but closely resembling 

 them — were numbers of Argynnis aphrodite Fabr. Around the second growth trees 

 at the borders of the clearing, Papilio turnus Linn, and Limenitis arthemis Drury 

 sported gaily. I watched them with great delight. 



But in this nook on the mountain top there were not only fine insects; there 

 were beautiful birds. To mention a few there were : 



The Blackburnian Warbler, Dendroica hlacJchurnice Baird. 



The Yellow Warbler, Dendroica aestiva Baird. 



The Red-eyed Vireo, Vireosylva olivacea Linn. 



The Cedar Waxwing, Ampelis cedrorum Gray. 



The Purple Finch, Carpodacus purpureus Gray. 



Having come from the Old iCountry, where white butterflies abound, I wondered 

 at the paucity of such in the scene before me. One or two specimens of Pontia 

 oleracea Harris only, were to be seen. In Harris's ^'Insects Injurious to Vegetation" 

 (Flint's edition published in 1862) this insect is well figured and its life history is 

 given. Dr. Bethune also gave a good account of it in 1871, in the 2nd Report of our 



