NOTES ON COLLECTING, ETC. 293 



aware that the damp, dark fogs of last week were suital)le for the 

 pursuit of lepidopterous entomology in the open air ; and fewer still, 

 probably, ventured to put the matter to the test of practical experience 

 in the face of such propitious (?) atmospherical conditions. I think, 

 therefore, an account of my own sport at the time may be interesting 

 to the readers of the Record. Wishing to avoid the " Guys," I accord- 

 ingly picked my way through mud and mire on the 5th into Highgate 

 Wood. The fallen leaves made the moist ground afford a fairly good 

 foothold, and after a couple of hours' hard work I obtained five Lemna- 

 tophila phryganella (three male and two female), several Ilybernia 

 defoliaria (females), and one H. mirantiaria (male). Not a very large 

 bag, yet it was very enjoyable to wander through the wood at a time 

 when the colouring was at its best ! For the benefit of those who are 

 unacquainted with the habits of Z. phryganella I would observe that 

 the males (of a brown colour) may be beaten^ out of the undergrowth, 

 and that then they take a short, slow, sailing kind of flight ; but they 

 are very provoking, for, if not caught on the wing, they soon settle and 

 appear to vanish in the most unaccountable manner. I lost several 

 owing to this cause, as they seldom rise to the beating-stick a second 

 time. The females (white with black markings, and having very pointed 

 wings) I found at rest on the trees. They are very inconspicuous, and 

 easily missed. On the 9th, when the fog was very thick, I visited the 

 lamps near the wood, and found the moths coming to the light. This 

 determined me to go round the next day, but the fog became so dense 

 in the morning that it required some resolution to carry out my inten- 

 tion. Everything was reeking with moisture, and the roads were a 

 quagmire. However, when I came to the lamps, a most curious sight 

 met my gaze. Hundreds upon hundreds of Hybernia defoliaria of 

 every possible type, and scores of H. aurantiaria were adhering to the 

 lamps (on one lamp I counted over forty moths), not only on the lamp- 

 glasses and the framework surrounding them, but also under the glass, 

 inside, on the lamp-post itself, on the ground close by, and even on 

 adjacent palings or hedges. Now what could have been the attraction 

 to account for such immense numbers? It was really surprising, too, 

 how they managed to obtain foothold on the moist greasy surfaces ! 

 When touched they usually fell on their backs into the mud, unless 

 intercepted ; though occasionally they took to flight. As I wished to 

 obtain a good series of the various forms of H. defoliaria, I was at first 

 in high feather, but became embarrassed when I discovered how 

 difficult was the task of merely picking and choosing ! I took four 

 Himera peiuiaria just before meeting the lamp-cleaner with ladder and 

 duster, and so I fear I may have missed others further on. He said he 

 had never seen so many moths in his life before. Putting aside all 

 imperfect specimens (and these were numerous) I find my bag of picked 

 specimens for the week (November 5th — 12th) amounts to: — L. phry- 

 ganella, 5 (3 males and 2 females) ; H. pennaria, 3 (males) ; H. auran- 

 tiaria, 14 (males); H. defoliaria (males) 22, (females) 10. I might 

 have increased the number greatly had I been so minded. It is a 

 curious circumstance that (comparatively speaking) I scarcely saw any 

 Cheimatobia brumata or Oporabia dilutata, though I took one or two of 



1 We have found them flying naturally in the morning sunshine in abundance. — Ed. 



