SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES FROM BRAEMAR. 257 



All along Callater Glen, on July 15th, Coenonympha tj/phon was in 

 immense numbers and mostly in perfect condition, and again, as last 

 year, I'lu/cis fiisra {carhiniariella) was abundant on some burnt patches 

 of heather. Apparently they always have these burnt patches to 

 disport themselves on, as I learn from the keeper that the annual 

 burning of a portion of the heather dates back indefinitely. The young 

 grass and heather that springs up afterwards forms the best possible 

 food for the deer, as they cannot tackle the old heather properly. 

 Whether C. typhnn was out when I visited the glen on the Sth I can- 

 not say, as the weather was too dull and gusty for it to fly. The only 

 vivid recollection I retain of that day, is a six-mile grind on a bicycle, 

 up the broken road, with wind and hill against me, buoyed up by the 

 thought of free-wheeling back ; and then a bad tyre-burst immediately 

 upon starting home. My companion, who had repairing tackle and 

 knew how to use it, had gone on ahead, so there was nothing left for 

 it but to tramp and wheel the machine. In spite of this mishap it 

 says a great deal for the Glen that it still retained its peculiar fascina- 

 tion for me, and its remoteness seemed to be emphasised by the sight 

 of two shepherds with several collies on the mountain side, bringing 

 an immense flock of sheep down to the lower pastures. They were 

 perhaps a quarter of a mile apart and shouted to each other and to the 

 dogs in a language that I presume was Gaelic. Anyway, it was 

 totally unintelligible to me, but of course the dogs understood and 

 obeyed every word. 



At the beginning of the visit Jhipaliis piniaria was very abundant 

 among the pines. Both sexes are strikingly different from those of 

 our southern woods — the male ground colour being almost pure white 

 and the female a dull shade of bufi', with no trace of the bright orange 

 colour of our southern form. These rapidly became worn, but 

 Eupithecia sat y rata var. calhinaria of which I took a nice lot on the 

 first afternoon, lasted most of the time. They were very plentiful 

 in the more sheltered spots of the exulans hill, preferring the parts 

 where the heather was long, but lower down only an occasional 

 specimen was seen. E. nanata was plentiful everywhere, and odd 

 E. lariciata and E. pulchellata also occurred. 



With more time at my disposal, I tried over more ground than last 

 year, but except at Aberarder, I found no places equal to those I had 

 already worked. I tried the country round the Linn of Dee, but it 

 was not at all prolific. The only observation of interest made was the 

 behaviour of a couple of wagtails just below the falls. All round on 

 the rocks Larentia caesiata was sitting and when at rest they were 

 apparently quite safe, but each time one started oft" it was pursued and 

 captured by a wagtail. I saw this happen three or four times in a 

 quarter-of-an-hour, so these two birds at this rate must have disposed 

 of a good many caesiata in their time. 



Aberarder is some seven miles down the Dee-side and close to 

 Balmoral, and on one of my visits the rest of the party left me, while 

 they went over the Balmoral grounds. They could not get over the 

 castle, as they had not acted on Eattray's advice. He said in all 

 seriousness " There is only one person who can give you permission. 

 You write to the King and he'll do it like a shot." However as we did 

 not write to the King, they went over the grounds while I worked at 

 Aberarder, where probably most of the Braemar insects occur. I 



