1921.] 133 



select their mates on account of their colour, though I have repeatedly- 

 seen it asserted that birds do so. 



A striking form is var. raynori, and it is one of the few forms that 

 breed largely true. The only other forms which I know to do this are 

 varleyata,Jlavofasciaria, and lutea, though probably some of the others 

 would be found to do so if tried, such as aicreqfasciata, axantha, etc. ; 

 but the great majority of them, including some extreme forms, will not. 

 Var. raynori occurred here for, I think, several consecutive seasons, but 

 seems to have gone, as it must be a dozen years since I saw a wild one. 



The well-known \&x. Jlavofasciaria {lacticolor) occurs, but is a great 

 rarity here. Why it should be so I do not know, as the pale more 

 ordinary form, from which llaynor first obtained the original strain of 

 the present iia.y Jlavofasciaria, is, or i-ather used to be, common. During 

 the first several years I was interested in the species, I bred these pale 

 forms in plenty, but they apparently suddenly became scarcer, and I have 

 not bred or seen one for. the past seven or eight years. So possibly 

 during the years prior to 1905, flavofasciaria may have been more 

 common, although I have never seen evidence of it in the old collections 

 of the district. The form occurs more than with us apparently in the 

 adjoining county of Lancashire. 



One of the most beautiful forms, the var. aureofasciata, is also rare. 

 I have only three, and, so far as I remember, have never seen any other. 

 Yars. odersfeltia and mixta, too, are very uncommon, although both turn 

 up sporadically in most years when a large number of wild larvae are 

 collected ; and the same may be said of the neat-looking var. axantha. 

 Vars. lutea and semilutea are still more uncommon with us, and vars. 

 siihviolacea and semiviolacea are very erratic in appearance; some 

 seasons a few turn up in the cages, and then for several years none will 

 be seen. 



Vars. alhipaUiata, albispatiafa, cupreo^asciata, igneofasciata, 

 infrahifasciata, nigrofasciata, and racliata are more or less plentiful, 

 and some of the specimens in these minor varieties look remarkably well 

 in the cabinet. Vars. cuneata, nigrotincta, and vauaria occur occa- 

 sionally, but nigricostata, according to Raynor's description, is rare, 

 although many specimens turn up in the cages to which the name would 

 veiy well apph'. 



In addition to all these, I have many very remarkable forms which, 

 not being recurrent, at any rate so far, I regard as casual aberrations, 

 and as such it is inadvisable to give names to them. But these forms 



