S38 



THE NATURALIST. 



at the sea-side, following the stream 

 up the valley, in the direction of 

 Stainton Dale. The stream passes 

 through the Lower Oolite, and is thus 

 strongly impregnated with limestone, 

 as the vegetation on its banks abun- 

 dantly shows. At the very entrance 

 of the glen, not a stone's throw from 

 the sea, were noble plants of Inula 

 Helenium, with the seed-heads fully 

 perfected. The flounced case of 

 ColeopJiora discordella was conspicu- 

 ous on the under side of the leaves 

 of Lotus major y on which the larva 

 was feeding. Another case -bearer 

 [C. grypJiipennella) was feeding on the 

 leaves of the rose ; its cylindrical 

 greyish-ochreous case readily dis- 

 tinguishing it. Tall plants of An- 

 gelica sylvestris were next examined, 

 and in the seed-heads the larvse of 

 Eupithecia tripimctata and Q^copJwra 

 flavimaculella were detected, the for- 

 mer being nearly full-fed. Carex 

 pendula, with its fine green leaves, 

 hung over the stream in every direc- 

 tion. In the seed-heads of Dactylls 

 glomerata, one of our commonest 

 grasses, GlypJiipteryx FiscJieriella was 

 feeding, having made himself a coat 

 of the chaff-scales. This was first 

 discovered by the companion of our 

 rambles. A little higher up the 

 stream, a ledge of rock revealed to 

 us a pair of water-ousels, which 

 hurried quickly past, uttering their 

 notes of alarm. Another pug {Eupi- 

 thecia centaur eata)^'{\^ feeding on the 



seeds of^ the Eagwort. Pterophorv^ 

 osteodactylus, one of the Plumes, was 

 consuming the seeds of the Golden 

 rod, which was very abundant in 

 the valley. Above us the martins 

 were still uttering their gladsome 

 notes, while hawking for their food. 

 The pretty light-green larva of the 

 Silver Lines (CloepJwra quercana) 

 was creeping down the bole of an oak, 

 evidently badly ichneumoned. Lithe- 

 colletis spinolella was mining in the 

 underside of the leaves of the sallow. 

 Myrrhis odorata, with its strongly 

 aromatic leaves, was growing by the 

 stream-side, and its long, deeply 

 furrowed capsules were very con- 

 spicuous. We next noticed the 

 pretty slender galleries, in rose- 

 leaves, of Nepticula anomalella. On 

 one rose-tree, that grew somewhat 

 in the shade, hardly a leaflet was 

 without its mine ! Noble fronds of 

 Lastraa Filix-mas, \Qii\ paleacea — full 

 five feet in length — were pointed out 

 to us by our fern-friend ; the rachis 

 being closely invested with a dense 

 coating of chaffy scales. Hypericum 

 quadrangulum offered us Nepticula 

 Septemhrella, as H. hirsutum had done 

 on our previous field-day. The old 

 cones of the larva of Gracilaria Swe- 

 derella were conspicuous on the oak- 

 leaves. We met also with Tinagma re- 

 splendellum in the leaves of the alder, 

 which it first mines, and afterwards 

 cuts out for itself therefrom an oval 

 flat case. We were now approach- 



