A MONrn's COLLECTING AT KANNOCH. 263 



T must say at once that to his kindly companionship, and wide 

 knowledge of the district, all the pleasure and success of my 

 trip are entirely due. 



Early on the morning of June 24th I left Exeter for Glasgow, 

 and travelling thence hy the North British Eailway, with its 

 charming views of Loch Long and Loch Lomond, I found 

 myself at Kannoch Station ahout 10.30 a.m. on the morning 

 of the 25th. I had still eight miles to go, and it was rather 

 discouraging to he told by the somewhat dour mail-driver that 

 I had arrived on a wrong day, for that on Tuesdays he went 

 by the north side of the Loch and not by the south. However, 

 he soon relented so far as to offer to put me down at the Bridge 

 of Gaur, within three miles of Camghouran, my destination, 

 and to bring round my baggage later in the day on his return 

 from Kinloch-Rannoch. 



A brisk tramp in the glorious air was most acceptable after 

 the long journey, and at Finnart I was met by Mr. Whittle 

 himself, who was soon introducing me to Mrs. Laing, our 

 hostess, and the cottage where the holiday was to be spent. 

 The situation of the latter, I was later to discover, was an 

 extremely convenient one for a collector, whilst the cottage, if 

 small, was spotlessly clean, and its inhabitants thought nothing 

 too much trouble for the comfort and service of their guests. 



I must leave Mr. Whittle to tell the story of his doings in 

 the earlier and later part of the season, only remarking that 

 he showed me on arrival such boxes of insects as to rouse the 

 expectation of a southern collector to the highest pitch, and it 

 was not long before nets were out, and the work of collecting 

 begun. Our chief energies were concentrated on the "Micros," 

 and for the sake of brevity I will follow a topographical rather 

 than a chronological order. 



Mrs. Laing's cottage lies just west of the Black Wood, 'eight 

 miles from Kinloch, and the collector may start operations as 

 soon as he steps outside the door. At the back of the small 

 garden was a patch of tansy which harboured a few Dicrorampha 

 herbosana. Tliis tansy form difters much from that found on 

 Achillea millefolium, and might well be taken for a different 

 species. It is a much larger and stouter insect, but the 

 genitalia show that the two forms are but one species. Passing 

 upwards from the garden, the rocky heather-clad slopes rise 

 gently to the south, and are covered with numerous birches, 

 Scotch firs, and an occasional mountain ash, whilst there are 

 frequent patches of Vacciniinn and Myrica gale. Portions of 

 the heather had been recently burnt, and here Plusia 

 i titer rogationis was common, sitting, not on the stones, but on 

 the burnt ground. It was not easily seen until startled, and 

 then was not easily caught. On the same burnt patches 

 occurred Gymnacula fusca and Gelechia nhscurella, the latter 



