1887.) 199 



the paper in question, and I fancy many o£ them will not be thought 

 to require notice. Such changes in the fauna and flora as he refers to 

 are not peculiar to the Birmingham district, and are certainly in some 

 cases more imaginary than real. All species are liable to fluctuation, 

 some more than others, abundant one season, scarce another; but these 

 variations are well known and pretty fully recorded. In his intro- 

 ductory matter, Mr. Bath takes a great deal of trouble to prove what 

 every entomologist already knows, and one might feel amused by his 

 laboured paragraphs were it not for his servility to one small word by 

 means of which he rings the " changes " ad nauseam. It would be 

 interesting to learn from Mr. Bath what " lists of fifty years ago " he 

 refers to, and in what respect they differ materially from the lists of 

 to-day. Bricks and mortar have, indeed, crowded out a few things 

 from the limited areas affected, but surely it is unfair to attribute 

 this to climatic changes, and the gradual conversion of the forms of 

 one geological period into those of another ! 



Will Mr. Bath be good enough to discJose his authority for the 

 statement that "not many years ago Papilio MacJiaon used to roam 

 throughout the Midlands ? " Would he be surprised to learn that 

 Afatura Iris still occurs in several woods in Warwickshire ? And 

 will he pardon me for informing him that the '' pabulum " of the 

 Purple Emperor larva is not " oak," but " sallow^ ?"* I am glad to say 

 that Melanargia Galatea still occurs near Knowle, and is abundant at 

 Salford Priors, Henley in Arden, and in other parts of Warwickshire 

 and AVorcestershire. 



The mention of Lyccena Cory don is very unhappy : there is, 

 indeed, a record of this butterfly having been on one occasion taken at 

 Knowle, but, even if the fact wei'e indisputable, no one except Mr. 

 Bath would jump to the conclusion that the specimen was a natural 

 product of the district. Argynnis Dia, and other favourites of Mr. 

 Weaver, must be put down in the same category, and we shall require 

 clearer evidence of their claim to be considered natives of the locality 

 — and, indeed, of their alleged capture in it — before we can accept the 

 story. From what I can gather, it would be rash and indiscreet to a 

 degree to pin one's entomological faith to " that energetic collector, 

 the late Mr. Weaver." 



It may be true that "the three large Fritillaries — Argynnis Aglaia, 

 A. Paphia, and A. Adippe — used to occur not uncommonly in Sutton 

 Park about thirty or forty years ago," and that they now appear to be 

 extinct or nearly so, but they are plentiful in other parts of the Bir- 



* Corrected on the cover of the December No. — Eds. 



