276 [November, 1902. 



On February llth I took there many Thestor B alius, one T. mauri- 

 tanicus, many E. Bella, C. Plilceas, V. polychloros, &c. After this 

 date we had very cold and windy weather, and took nothing of interest 

 at Tunis, Carthage and Kairouan. On the 21st we arrived at Biskra 

 in a thunderstorm, and there rejoined Miss Fountaine, who had re- 

 mained at Algiers and caught nothing remarkable in our absence. It 

 blew a gale all the next day, but February 23rd was lovely, so we 

 made an excursion to the Col de Sfa, a pass in a sharp rocky ridge 

 about five miles north of Biskra, a good collecting ground, though 

 the mountains are very steep and barren. We took some beautiful 

 specimens of Euchloe Charlonia, quite fresh, and plenty of E. Bella 

 and E. Belemia, as well as several var. glauce. It struck me as re- 

 markably early to get var. glauce, which is generally considered to be 

 the summer brood of Belemia. "We also saw P. Machaon, but it was 

 flying so wild, in consequence of the high wind, that we none of us 

 took any, so I could not be sure whether it was Oberthur's var. liospi- 

 tonides or not ; subsequently, however, we took several, and I am 

 unable to see that they vary much from the type. Next day we went 

 to the ridge above Hammarn-es-Salahin, to the west of Biskra, and 

 found much the same insects as on the Col de Sfa, with the addition of 

 L. boetica. The day following we devoted to the Biskra park of Beni 

 Mora, a very nice place, well watered, with grass, bushes, weeds and 

 palm trees. It would be excellent collecting ground if it were not so 

 close to the town, but it is perpetually haunted by entomologists in 

 delicate health, who take their regular morning stroll there, and pick 

 up the rarer Lepidoptera as soon as they appear. However, we did 

 fairly well, and caught plenty of E. Charlonia and E. Belemia, one L. 

 Telicanus, two L. Theophrastus, one L. Lysimon, and several C. alcece 

 var. australis, a nice red-brown variety. I also took several P. Dapli- 

 dice hoping that they might prove to be var. albidice, Ob., but could 

 not see that they differed from the ordinary form ; probably albidice 

 may be a later brood. February 27th was a red letter day with us : 

 we went to El Kantara, a charming place on the railway about thirty 

 miles north of Biskra, where a river cuts sharply through the last 

 ridge of the Aures ; here a good country inn is to be found, where 

 we spent several days very pleasantly. 



On the top of a neighbouring mountain, flying among the rough 

 halfa grass, I took five Euchloe Pechi (all males just out of chrysalis), 

 and also several specimens of L. Abencerragus and L. melanops, the 

 latter remarkably large and brilliant. Next day, on another beat, 15 

 more E. Pechi came to the nets, all in good condition, and always 



