NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 257 



rather over 4^ in. in expanse. I may add this example brings up 

 the nmnber of British caught specimens to thirty-one. The last 

 example was captured on October 20th, 1916, by my friend Major 

 Chavasse, in co. Cork (the only Irish specimen known), and recorded 

 by me in this journal for December of that year. — F. W. Frohawk. 



Note on the fitful Appearance op Pararge meg^ra. — Mr. 

 Rowland-Brown's note on the reappearance of Pararge viegara in 

 north-west Middlesex after an absence of many years {antea, p. 233) 

 appears to me to be of far more than merely local interest. Many 

 even of our commonest butterflies have their seasons of abundance 

 and comparative scarceness, but in few is it more marked than in 

 P. megcera. Being generally regarded as a common species, at any 

 rate in the southern counties of England, records regarding it are 

 few, and one has to fall back largely on one's own experience to gain 

 any idea of its behaviour. For many years I have kept a close 

 watch upon the butterflies occurring over a very limited area in this 

 immediate neighbourhood, covered by the western end of the 

 parades, the strip of downs extending thence to Beachy Head and 

 my own garden — in all a strip of coast of between two and three miles, 

 in length. I have made a careful search of my note- books for the 

 past ten years, from which it appears that from 1909 to 1912 inclu- 

 sive the species was not met with ; in 1913 two were observed on 

 the Downs under Beachy Head ; in 1914 and 1915 none were seen; 

 in 1916 one visited the garden on August 22nd ; in 1917, on June 

 2nd, another was seen in the same place, and on September 2nd one 

 at the parade end, but in 1918 it appears to have become quite 

 common. The first noted was one on the parade on May 26th, the 

 only butterfly seen there that morning, and on June 2nd another 

 was met with there ; and at the end of August several were to be 

 seen whenever one went there, and along the Downs under the Head 

 it was quite a common insect, and it also visited the garden. Thus 

 after many years of scarceness it has again become quite common. It 

 would be interesting to know whether P. megcera has been more abun- 

 dant this year than usual over the country generally, and especially 

 in those districts where it may be regarded as a species of common 

 occurre ce. — Eobert Adkin ; Hodeslea, Eastbourne, October, 1918. 

 Aglais urtic^, ab. ichnusoides. — During a fortnight's collecting 

 in June in Sussex I had very poor sport, considering the district — 

 Abbot's Wood, etc. Sugaring was very disappointing, and during 

 twelve consecutive evenings I did not secure fifty insects, even of 

 the most common kinds. However, I was well rewarded in the end, 

 as I found several large batches of Aglais urticce larvae, and for lack 

 of something better to do I just picked up a dozen full-fed ones, and 

 one has emerged a beautiful aberration. On referring to ' The Butter- 

 flies of the British Isles,' p. 68, you mention and figure a similar 

 aberration. As it may interest you I enclose a life-size photograph, 

 with the following description : The costal margin is one black patch 

 continued from the base to quite near the apex, where there is just a 

 tiny dull white spot. The outer margin, ^ in. wide, blackish-brown 

 with lighter shadings, leaving only a small space in centre of fore 



