A month's collecting in HUNGARY. 159 



valleys as far as the eye could reach ; to the west the fields of 

 Bosnia lay far below ; while north, in the dim distance, little 

 silvery patches, that looked like pieces of shining glass, revealed 

 the presence of the Danube, flowing from distant Budapest, 

 nearly three hundred miles away. 



Where the beech forest ended, flying amongst the trees — 

 fresh at this elevation and almost common — were quite a lot of 

 P. man)ii. Here also were one or two P. mnemosyiie, and a few 

 fresh M. cinxia. Beautifully dark females of B. euphrosyne were 

 busy egg-laying on the small yellow pansies which grew abun- 

 dantly here, and P. orion was not uncommon. In a little grassy 

 hollow near the actual peak itself were one or two worn Aglais 

 urticce. Descending again to the edge of the wood I intended to 

 stop there some little time, as butterflies were rather numerous, 

 but the repeated furious attacks of three enormous sheep-dogs 

 caused me to beat a rather hasty retreat, and so I did nothing 

 more there, but picked up a few P. orion near the Weisses 

 Kreutz on the way down, altogether an interesting day, though 

 I was disappointed in not meeting with either Neptis lucilla or 

 Erebia medusa var. psodea.* The following da}^ I again went up 

 the Czerna gorge. P. manni and N. aceris were both common, 

 and I found Coenomjmpha arcania, a very brightly marked form, 

 just beginning to come out, and I also took single examples of 

 Melitcea maturna and Chrysophanus alciphron. 



With many regrets I left Herkulesbad that evening, arriving 

 back again at Budapest the following morning, June 7th, and it 

 was not long before I was again on the war-path, and on the 

 way to the now familiar meadows at Budafok. A pleasant 

 change of things had taken place during the ten days I had been 



-■= My impression after foiir expeditions to the mountains above Her- 

 kulesbad in July this year is that the Suskului is a much more productive 

 locality than the Domoo;led. The route is from the well-known Quelle about 

 an hour beyond the Weisses Kreutz, and there is no water to be found after 

 this spring on the way. The path is eventually much more open than that 

 to the Domogled ; there is a fine flora, and there are no herds at any time 

 on the top, and consequently no dogs. But there is a forester's hut with 

 extremely agreeable occupants. The month of July is not to be recommended 

 for Herkulesbad generally, as it is " between broods," so to speak. This year 

 Pararge roxelana was in a more or less dishevelled condition on July 5tli in 

 the Weisses Kreutz woods. Both Neptis lucilla (in the Quelle woods), 

 N. aceris (in the Czernathal), and Erebia medusa var. 2^sodea (on the hills) 

 were over. It should be noted, however, that E. melas, as Dr. J. N. Keynes 

 has pointed out elsewhere, is a much earlier insect than we have been led to 

 suppose hitherto. I saw it on the Suskului, at about 3000 ft., on July 10th, 

 but there was a stiff breeze blowing, and before I could get my net to work 

 the butterfly was carried far away ; and this happened more than once. 

 Indeed, the wind spoilt collecting most days. Lepidopterists, however, 

 visiting the Domogled in future should not fail to look for Polyommatns 

 anteros, taken by Dr. Keynes near the summit, where, owing also to the 

 high wind, I saw next to nothing, though the sun was in a clear sky. — 

 H. R.-B. 



