THE FEATHERED EAR. 257 



the markings white ; var. ru/icosia, Tutt = graminis^ Hiibn., 

 greyish brown, with reddish front margin, and ochreous mark- 

 ings ; var. hibernicus^ Curt., yellowish brown with the mark- 

 ings ochreous, and the stigmata more or less united with the 

 central streak. In some specimens most of the markings are 

 obscured or absent, and only the reniform stigma and the 

 forked extremity of the central line remain distinct. 



The caterpillar, which is glossy, and the skin much wrinkled, 

 is of a bronzy-brown colour, with black-edged pale lines ; there 

 is a brownish plate on the first ring and a blackish one on the 

 last ; the spiracles are black and the head is brownish, marked 

 with darker. It feeds from March to June on grasses, and in 

 some years and localities occurs in enormous numbers, denuding 

 considerable areas of grass land. Rooks and other birds devour 

 them readily, and where their feeding places are on hill- 

 sides, they are apt to be washed off by heavy rain, so that the 

 drains and ditches become filled up in places by masses of 

 these caterpillars. Even after such wholesale destruction, the 

 moths may still appear in the autumn in countless numbers. 

 The male moths are sometimes seen flying in the sunshine and 

 visiting the flowers of thistles, ragwort, etc. Such flight usually 

 takes place between eight a.m. and noon, but both sexes have been 

 seen flying over grass and heather continuously from just before 

 midday to four p.m. The moths are also on the wing at night, 

 and the male is very susceptible to the attraction of light. The 

 species has occurred in all parts of the British Islands, but its 

 presence in the south of England would appear to be more 

 casual than elsewhere. The range abroad extends through 

 Northern Asia to Siberia. 



The Feathered Ear {Pachdra kucophced). 



Stephens, in 1829, figured one of two specimens of this species 

 said to have been taken near Bristol in 1816, a part of England 



s 



