NOTES ON COLLECTING, ETC. 253 



St Anne' s-07i-the- Sea. — The season with us has been an exceptionally 

 good one, although August and September have proved unpropitious. 

 Peronea hastiana has disappointed us ; we intended to breed a large 

 number, but with all our efiforts have succeeded in obtaining about 

 150 pupcC only. Gracilaria siramineeUa, Depressaria ocellana, yeatiella, 

 /lerackana, subpropinquella, arenella and jianatella have all turned up, 

 but owing to the bad weather we have not paid much attention to 

 them. Having collected a lot of stems of Ainanthe crocata with larvae 

 and pupffi inside, we bred hundreds of Depressaria 7iervosa, and had 

 to stop setting them from sheer monotony. Eppipiphora populana, 

 Choreuies scintillnlana, Gelechia temerella and sororailella turned up in 

 good numbers. Round the gas lamps we have also had fair sport. 

 PJeu7'ia popularis and Luperina cespifis turning up in good numbers 

 with swarms of Z. testacea. About a fortnight ago I got two Platyptilia 

 goiwdaciyla on a lamp, and yesterday we had a fine imago of Acherontia 

 atropos brought us, which had come to the light at a signal-box, and 

 was kept for us by the signalman, who affirmed its identity not as a 

 moth but as a bat, and informed us that it squeaked. — Holmes 

 Baxter, St. Anne's-on-the-Sea. October ()ih, i8gi. 



Reading. — Until this last week, when we have had really cold nights 

 with a touch of frost, I have to record a really favourable time for 

 sugar. At one locality near here, Xanthia ciirago have been quite 

 extraordinary as regards numbers, but I have taken no varieties nor 

 have I heard of any having been taken. One collector and myself 

 took about 180 one night, and, a week later, I heard they were still 

 swarming in hundreds, but we could not spare the time as X. aurago 

 was then out and the space and time for finding them is so limited; this 

 year was better than the last three, for we got on an average 16 each 

 night between us, and with them a fair sprinkling of the rosy orange 

 var. At the same time X. gilvago favoured us with occasional visits, 

 two to four each night, also Epunda lutule7ita, of which hitherto about 

 one each year has been taken here, my friend and I secured seven. I 

 have not heard whether any of the other collectors have seen it. We 

 have had several new names to add to our list of captures, Noctua 

 glareosa being one of them, but that we could not follow up for the 

 same reason that drew us from X. ciirago. I have also only tried one 

 evening for Sphinx convol2'u/i, which did not put in an appearance, 

 although the garden was full of flowers, including the tobacco plant. 

 My best evening for captures was on September 14th, on which night we 

 took over 300 specimens, chiefly X. ciirago, Asphalia dilida, N. glareosa 

 and Hadena protea. — E. C. Bazett, Reading. October c^th, 1891. 



Aberdeen. — This season in the north of Scotland has been the worst 

 I have ever experienced. I hoped that the autumn might turn out well 

 after such a bad summer but in this I am disappointed. I sugared in 

 a wood near here to-night (Saturday, October loth), and the following 

 list gives the result of my captures : — 2 Cerastis vaccinii, i Anciwcelis 

 rnfina, i A. litura, i Scopelosonia satellitia, i Agriopis apriiina, and a 

 few Cliesias spartiata at rest on broom. What a change from what I 

 have seen in the same wood at this time of year !— A. Horne. 

 October 12th, 1891. 



York. — There has been a great falling off in the captures in our 

 immediate neighbourhood since September. With but one or two excep- 



