80 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



we arrived on the 25th ; and here we remained until April 1st, 

 1897. Malta is not a place where one would expect to find a 

 great variety of insects, for upon approaching it from the sea 

 during the greater part of the year it looks anything but inviting 

 to an entomologist, as it presents a dried and burnt-up appear- 

 ance, and, with the exception of a few carob trees, there is 

 nothing to relieve the monotony of the stone walls and brown 

 soil. Even in the winter and spring months it is difficult to 

 believe that so much is grown upon the island, for upon travelling 

 along the road you see scarcely anything but the stone walls that 

 surround the fields. But take the train to Citta Vecchia, and 

 walk up to the old town that stands upon one of the highest 

 points of the island, and turn back towards Valetta, and you will 

 then look down upon a large expanse of country under cultiva- 

 tion. Every foot of ground that can be utilized has a crop of 

 some sort upon it. The fields are small and divided by stone 

 walls of from four to six feet high. This is to protect the crops 

 from the prevailing winds which are frequent and strong during 

 the winter and spring. February and March are the months to 

 see the island at its best ; then the fields are green with corn, 

 potatoes, beans, &c, and some of them are scarlet with the 

 flowers of a species of clover, called by the natives " sulla " 

 (Hedysarum coronarium) , which forms valuable fodder. Here and 

 there you will notice patches of a bright primrose-yellow, which 

 is caused by the flowers of an Oxalis, a most pernicious weed, 

 which grows nearly everywhere. It is a delicate-looking flower 

 upon rather a long weak stalk, and it is a pretty sight to see a 

 large mass of this waving to and fro in a gentle breeze. It dies 

 away altogether during the hot season, but is one of the first 

 weeds to spring up after the autumn rains. 



The central part of the island is more or less flat or undu- 

 lating, with hills towards the coast-line, and it is divided in many 

 places by valleys or " weids" which run towards the sea. Some 

 of them are tolerably wide and deep, and are well protected from 

 the winds, and in several of them, particularly at Boschetto, 

 Zurrico, &c, there are beautiful orange gardens, which are de- 

 lightful and favourite places for picnics. The "weids" running 

 down from Boschetto under Verdala Palace, the governor's sum- 

 mer residence, past Siggieni and Zebbug out on to the Marsa, 

 and another near Birzubbugia were my favourite hunting grounds. 

 Here from the end of October to the end of March plenty of 

 wild flowers are to be met with. Two or three kinds of sweetly- 

 scented narcissus, a small purple crocus, a yellow tulip, grape 

 hyacinths, anemones, scarlet pheasant's eye, various heaths, 

 and a number of others. The only indigenous trees are, I think, 

 the carob and wild fig. There are a few bushes — a stunted 

 Rhamnus, upon which the larvae of Rhodocera cleopatra feed, 

 brambles, and some other low shrubs the names of which I do not 



