THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 101 



a favourable nigbt, for these damp, warm evenings are inva- 

 riably the best. On reaching the first sallow (the one growing 

 in the small clearing in the oak wood), lighting my lantern, 

 and throwing its gleams on the bush, a sight met my gaze 

 which I have never before experienced during the whole 

 course of my entomological career. The blossoms were 

 actually swarming with moths, and hundreds of others fluttered 

 round struggling for a meal ! On nearly every flower there 

 were at least three moths ; and the fresh arrivals, crowding on 

 to those who had already partaken too freely, dislodged them, 

 and they fell helplessly to the ground below, but appeared 

 soon to recover, for I noticed them in numbers crawling up 

 the branches in quest of another meal. This host of moths 

 was composed chiefly of Tseniocampa cruda, although 

 T. miniosa, T. munda, T. rubricosa, T. gothica, and T. stabilis, 

 were present ; besides Hoporina croceago, Xylocampa litho- 

 riza, Cerastis Vaccinii, Eupithecia abbreviata, E. exiguata, 

 E. pumilata, and Hybernia progemmaria. I took one of 

 Mr. Bignell's beating-trays with me (not the patent improved 

 pattern, described in the last number of the 'Entomologist,' 

 p. 89); but having forgotten the tin-holder for the outriggers 

 and handle it was, comparatively speaking, useless, although 

 I used it, after a fashion, as a small sheet. Upon beating the 

 bush the effect was perfectly marvellous, the sheet and 

 ground around it being literally covered with moths; and in 

 addition to this a plentiful sup])ly of them were deposited on 

 my head, shoulders, &c. As soon as they began to recover 

 they flew in such crowds round my lantern as almost to 

 obscure it, and once or twice they actually succeeded in 

 getting inside, through the ventilating aperture at the top, 

 and extinguished the light. 



Bats were in great force, and so bold that they often took 

 moths from the flowers right under my nose ; and once or 

 twice I fancy, from the vibrations of their wings close to ray 

 ears, that they must have selected a victim from my hat or 

 shoulders. 



Coleoptera were represented by numerous specimens of 

 Dryops femorata, a species which, I believe, was formerly 

 considered rare. Hymenoptera were not absent, for Bombus 

 terrestris, too lazy or too tipsy to return home, had taken up 

 its quarters for the night, deeply and snugly buried amidst 

 the downy anthers of the flowers. 



