NOTES ON COLLECTING, ETC. 205 



some of the boys, and, on an old heap of rubbish all among some 

 nettles, I came across a lot of Tinea imella and took about thirty. I 

 think this moth must be rather rare, as my friend, Mr. Hodgkinson, who 

 named them for me, said he had never taken it himself, and he had 

 collected for fifty years. — T. Baxter, St. Anne's-on-Sea. 



Lake District. — On July 6th I arrived at Keswick for a few weeks' 

 collecting. The weather during my stay was on the whole fine, but 

 seemed to affect insects in a way that made them sluggish, and absence 

 of sunny days made the Diurni scarce, so that I had to work hard for 

 what I did get. The best insect I took was Erebia cassiope. Newman's 

 British Butterflies was my guide as to localities for this, but I only took 

 it just below Styehead Tarn, at the head of Borrowdale. It occurs 

 here in a little valley, I think about i^ooo feet above the sea level, down 

 which runs a brook, the river Derwent being the outlet of the Tarn. 

 It did not, however, appear to be common here, probably because I 

 was too late for it, as most of the specimens I took were worn, some 

 badly so. I visited the spot twice. The first day (July loth) was sunny, 

 but a fresh breeze swept down from the Tarn. I arrived about midday, 

 and stayed for rather more than an hour, during which I captured eight 

 specimens, which were almost all I saw. It is by far the easiest butterfly 

 to catch of any I know, as it never makes the slightest attempt to dodge 

 the net. Soon after one o'clock it disappeared altogether, although the 

 sun was still shining. To-day, on my way home, I had the misfortune 

 to drop my collecting box, containing the eight specimens of E. cassiope, 

 amongst some heather and bracken. A two hours' systematic search 

 over half an acre was fruitless ; the box and specimens must be there 

 now ! On July 8th, I carefully searched the greater part of the southern 

 and western slopes of Helvellyn for the same insect, but failed to find it 

 although the day was favourable for its flight. On the nth, an expedi- 

 tion for it to the Red Skrees, near Ambleside, met with no better 

 success ; but although the western slope near the top seemed very 

 likely ground for it, and the day was oppressively hot and still, with an 

 entire absence of sun, I had not a fair chance. On the 13th, I made 

 an early start for Styehead Tarn again, though it was the dullest of 

 mornings, with a cold wind blowing. I arrived at about 10.30, but saw 

 nothing of cassiope for an hour, owing to the dull weather ; when fortune 

 favoured me, for the only glimpses of sunlight, it seemed, in the whole 

 district came down my valley. These glimpses were of very short 

 duration, and few and far between, nevertheless most precious, for 

 immediately on the appearance of the sun, cassiope appeared, although 

 when the sun was not shining I could not find a single specimen even 

 by most careful searching. Once I caught three specimens in hardly 

 more than thirty seconds of sunshine, and altogether I took nine in 

 about two hours. The rule seems to be, no sunshine, no cassiope. I 

 brought home a living ? , but although I fed her she died in a week 

 without having laid. Of other Diurni, I took Argynnis selene (much 

 worn), A. agiaia (fine) and Co^nonympa davus. Of the latter, five 

 specimens on Helvington Moss, near Kendal (2 ^'s and 3 ? 's ; i $ 

 fine, the rest very poor). Beating was not of much use, but produced 

 Asthena luteata (2), Metrocampa margaritaria, Abraxas ulmata (always 

 sluggish), Cidaria populata {1), MelantJiia ocellata {1), Nudaria mundana 

 (i), Aplecta herbida (i), Platypteryx falcula (i), Larentia pectinitaria 



