COLLECTING ORTHOPTERA IN THE CAUCASUS AND TRANSCAUCASUS. 301 



chirp, which I resolutely set to work to stalk clown. I was convinced 

 it was an Ob/iit/inscelis, and soon my patience was rewarded by the 

 capture of a fine male. It was not < HyiitliDi^celis, though at first I took 

 it to be a local, and probably new species, but a I'soiddonotns, Ps. 

 spec Ilia rL^, F. de W. This is an interesting genus, resembling 

 Olynthoscelia in appearance, with a very long pronotum, but structurally 

 more nearly related to DecticKs. Only three species are known, /'. 

 fieberi, of the Western Balkan, which I have taken on the Durmitor in 

 Montenegro, P. s/iecidaris in the Caucasus and Asia Minor, and P. 

 inflatus, Uv., a species recently discovered by Uvaroff, also in the 

 Caucasus. My specimens approach the latter in the smaller size, and 

 unarmed femora, but in the structure of the pronotum and genital 

 parts it is indistinguishable from the larger forms of /'. aiiecidaris from 

 Bakuriany, on the south side of the valley of the Kura. 



Our driver completed his repairs all too quickly and soon we were 

 buzzing away down the valley of the Aragva, a torrent that has cut a 

 fine gorge on the southern slope of the range. The scenery is very 

 grand and rugged for many miles, and the road is the mere ledge on 

 the precipitous fianks of the mountains. We whirred round appalling 

 corners, with a miserable parapet, at terrific speed, and to ease our 

 nerves the driver pointed out a yawning chasm where but a week or two 

 before a car had gone over bodily, and fallen a thousand feet or more. 

 I clenched my teeth and gripped my seat and trusted to Providence. 

 Kegret at reaching the milder scenery of the lower Aragva was tempered 

 by relief at the relative safety of the drive. About 2.30 we stopped 

 for lunch at Passanaur, 3,621ft., a picturesque village in the gorge. 

 The menu consisted of vodka, bortch, fish, shishlik and kakhetin wine 

 and good coffee. As I seized my net for a moment's collecting, we 

 were ordered on board and bustled oft" again. The scenery is fine, but 

 not grand ; mountains have degenerated into hills, and are thickly 

 wooded. At frequent intervals we ford torrents, up to the axles of the 

 car, and pass caravans of savage gypsies, some of whom threw stones 

 and curses at the car. Quickly through the village of Ananaur, 

 2,325ft., we entered a broad undulating plain, highly cultivated, but 

 now burnt brown. A minute's halt at Dushet, 2,915ft., where I 

 scorched my dusty throat with a glass of boiling tea, and took 

 Statirodenis bicolor, Charp., and Ocdipoda caerulescens, L., and oft' again. 



The brown fields are dull and monotonous, but on the telegraph 

 wires are perched that most exquisite creature the bee-eater, Meiojis 

 dpiaster : in beauty of colouring, elegance of build, and grace of fiight, 

 I know no bird that can rival it ; they looked like living jewels 

 flashing in the sun, as they dived oft" the wires, hawked an insect, and 

 gently landed again upon their perch. 



A race down a long straight road brought us to the Kura, that 

 cuts a deep and wide valley down to the Caspian. We crossed it at the 

 village of Mtskhet, 1,525 ft., with a quaint old Georgian church built 

 by the Georgian Emperor, Alexander (1413-14-12), to replace the older 

 one destroyed by Tamerlane, and at last, at 8 p.m., tired, cramped, 

 dusty, hungry, and thirsty, we reached Tiflis." 



At the comfortable Hotel London it was nice to be greeted by the 



* " Tiflis " is probably a Tartar corruption of the Georgian name of the Town 

 Dibilissi." 



