llETROSl'EOTS ANb FORECASTS. 43 



long days spent at Til*i,ate Forest, with the tedioixs searching in the 

 thick bushy suckers at the foot of the akiers for traces of the ravages 

 of the larva ; whilst those fine Nonagria concolor can only recall the 

 generosity of a well-known entomologist, together with a feeling of 

 surprise at the way in which its locality and successful working can 

 for so long past have been preserved a mystery. 



How many are the friendships, commenced with the most casunl 

 acquaintance in the field, that are cemented during these winter months 

 and that bear fruit in due season, in the true desire to be of mutual 

 assistance in promoting both the growth of the collection and the 

 pleasure of collecting, and that act as the only check ujDon tlie vast 

 and elaborate systems of exchange that grow up around us. It is 

 worth recollecting too, the anticipations with which a precious parcel 

 from some friend whom it were treason to call a "correspondent" 

 merely, is unswathed from its ample packing ; anticipations, the pleasure 

 of whose fulfilment can only be excelled by that of being in the proud 

 position of knovving some " desideratum " which will gladden the heart 

 of the owner of the box on its safe return. Surely this experience will 

 survive the rude shock of the disappointment sometimes caused by the 

 greed or incapacity, or even worse, of those whose advertisements 

 sometimes tinwittingl}^ obtain publicit}', whilst it is those who, un- 

 fortified by these pleasant recollections, can only be pitied for offering 

 gratuitous insult to those whose true assistance in promoting the best 

 interests of entomology, is unavoidably occasionally abused by design. 



It is during such social moments, when friend opens his heart to 

 friend, that the secret of some locality concealed, jDossibly for j-ears, is 

 revealed, and arrangements are made it may be, for a midsummer trip 

 to Braemar, for Zi/gaena exulans, in its elevated home, necessitating a 

 2,500-ft. climb, or to the Isle of Man, where, along its jDrettily indented 

 rocky coasts, in more or less inaccessible spots, among the flowering 

 bladder-camjiion (Sileiie intlata), the quick-flying Diantlioecia caesia 

 may be netted in June, and the still rarer Lithosia cauiola occurs a few 

 weeks later. In this pleasant chat, with which the long winter 

 evenings are beguiled, many a hint lias l)een given and taken, the 

 recollection of which, when the advancing season has given a chance 

 for its trial, has awakened a feeling of gratitude to the more advanced 

 collector who thus kindly places his exi^erience at the dis]30sal of the 

 tyro. 



When at last the cabinets are closed and the dujjlicates freely over- 

 hauled, who is there that cannot afford a hearty laugh, whilst the fire 

 blazes cheerfully and the chairs are drawn closer, at those undoubtedly 

 trying exjjeriences, of which the past season is sure to have contributed 

 its share, to the most experienced and fortunate collector ? We recol- 

 lect with a momentary shudder, that early, too early, fortnight during 

 May and June, in Fen Land, when the N.E. wind blew with a keenness 

 worthy of January, or when on stiller evenings the fog rose, white and 

 opaque, damping everything l)ut the spirits (animal not ardent), when 

 the sheet, soaked to transparency, Aveighed its poles so heavily into 

 the yielding soil as to gradually sink to earth, leaving tlie light aloft, 

 sole illuminant of the marshy and weird wastes. 



What merriment is provoked by the visions of two drenched 

 figures battling with a " South- Wester " on cliffs 600-ft. above the 

 sea, the scud flying wildly, l)ut the moths, alas I more deterred by the 



