88 THE KNT()1\IOT,<)(4ISt's KK(H)Kl). 



fir woods on the north side. /'-'. cKplunoiiics was evidently onlj' just 

 coming out as all those taken were quite fresh and ? $ were very 

 scarce. We took a few very interesting M. cin.ria with a strong 

 tendency to increase of black markings on tlie underside, one having 

 the central white band almo-;t filled with black blotches. Unfortun 

 aiely most of the specimens were hopelessly worn, though we had 

 taken several in good condition at Vernet, nearly 3.000 ft. lower. 

 Among the fir woods ('Dniouipupha i/ihis was plentiful and showed 

 variation in spotting and we also took three fresh I'outia (Irijiliiiici'. 

 Three large hawthorn trees in full bloom on July 8th seemed rathei- 

 out of date. A iai'ge group of (jenera,ls. Colonels and Ked Hats were 

 staying at our hotel for some time and touring the district and they 

 nmde it a trifle overcrowded, so on July 8th we took train down to 

 Prades and drove up to Molitg-les-Bains (pronounced Molitch) where 

 we stayed most comfortably until July 14th. The valley is very 

 narrow and the heat was very great and inspired a thirst like the one 

 the toper said he would not take £5 for. On July 9th we were intro- 

 duced to two new insects, Satyrioi dice and Kpincphele ida, both of 

 which were just coming out — we had searched in vain for S. circe at 

 Vernet. The K. ida were neaily all nuiles but we took two ? 2 and 

 also two or three /'A tithonns, which were easily mistaken for the ? 

 when on the wing. In a damp iri-igated ineadow we took a nice series 

 of J'!reit's alcetds of both sexes in good condition and after a chase it 

 was a joy to get into the river and wallow in a deep rocky pool. We 

 tried the hills beyond Molitg village, but the country was quite burnt 

 up and practically nothing was seen l)ut a few I lijiparrhia seiuele. At 

 the back of the old chateau which is perched on a rocky point we saw 

 U. hriseis but could not get at it as the ground was very steep and. 

 overgrown. A few 0. anfioliis were flying over the braujbles by the 

 roadside and with them Nnrdinaiiiiio (T/wdo) ilids, mostly of the type 

 form. Flying with lY. ilids were a few Kliiyia (T.) spiiii, and one of 

 these is the var. lyncciis with a pale patch on the upper-wing and a wide 

 yellow band on the lower-wing with dark veins running through it. 

 The tails are also exceptionally long. A curious small form of /'. 

 icanis was taken, the upper side like A. iiiedon but with a few blue 

 scales, the lower side a reddish-brown with well marked orange lunules 

 to both wings. As one of them is var. icad)iuK they are very difiticult 

 to separate from nicdon. A few ' '. dams were taken, generally in th(' 

 hottest and driest corners. 



On July 11th we reluctantly started for home; we left Prades at 

 1.50, had a breakdown with the electric train and missed the Paris 

 connection at Perpignan, travelled with numerous stoppages till we 

 were turned out of our train at 2.80 a.m. at Toulouse owing to another 

 accident (language quite violent but mitigated by the crippling foreign 

 tongue), and being quite unable to get a bed, dozed in chairs until it 

 was time for a 6 o'clock wash and breakfast. We arrived in Paris 

 about midnight, crossing by the morning hoat and reached home on 

 the afternoon of the 16th. In the next day's paper we saw that our 

 boat broke down just oft' Dover on the return journey and passengers 

 had to be taken oft' in a rather heavy sea, so we narrowly missed an 

 unpleasant finish to a very pleasant holiday. 



