86 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



A FORTNIGHT IN THE HIGHLANDS. 

 By G. T. Porritt, F.L.S., F.E.S., &c. 



A long-hoped-for collecting expedition to that classic ground 

 to entomologists — Rannoch — was realized in June last. Some 

 time previously Mr. C. A. Briggs of Lynmouth, Mr. J. J. F. X. 

 King of Glasgow, and myself had arranged to visit the locality, 

 the chief inducement being that we might capture our own series 

 of the two local and up to that time rare dragonflies, Mschna 

 borealis, Zett. {ccerulea, Strom.), and Cordulia arctica, Zett. 

 Monday, June 6th, therefore saw me on my way to Glasgow, 

 where, at the railway station, Mr. King met me ; and during the 

 evening I had the rich treat of looking over his collections of 

 Neuroptera and Trichoptera. Next morning we were up betimes 

 to take the early West Highland train to Rannoch, and soon had 

 the satisfaction of being joined by Mr. Briggs, who had been 

 travelling all night in order to meet us. A journey through 

 lovely Highland lake scenery brought us in due time to Rannoch, 

 from which place we had a ten miles' drive before us to Cam- 

 ghouran, a small hamlet close to the famous Black Wood, on the 

 south side of Loch Rannoch, and almost midway between the 

 two ends of the lake, the distance indeed being about ten miles 

 from Loch Rannoch at the west end, and eight miles from 

 Kinloch Rannoch at the east end. At Camghouran Mr. King 

 had already engaged for us comfortable "quarters" at the farm- 

 house of Mrs. Cameron, and there we spent nearly a fortnight in 

 the wildest and most romantic spot it was ever my lot to be 

 located in. Some collecting was done on the loch- side on the 

 day of our arrival, but next morning we "set-to" in earnest to 

 try to find the grand Mschna borealis. Not a trace of it could 

 we then discover, and as we knew we were on the right ground, 

 we were forced to the conclusion that it was not yet out. This 

 proved to be the explanation, and nearly a week elapsed before 

 we were absolutely certain we had even seen it. One morning, 

 however, Mr. Kenneth J. Morton, of Edinburgh, who had joined 

 us for a few days, called out that one had passed him, and a few 

 seconds later Mr. King had it in his net. From that time the 

 species emerged rapidly, due no doubt to the much hotter 

 weather, and by the middle of our second week had become fairly 

 abundant. But, like most species of the genus Mschna, borealis 

 was most wary, and excessively difficult to catch. It does not, like 

 Mschna grandis and M. cyanea, hawk for its prey iu a forward 

 and backward movement over the same ground, and so, unlike 

 them, cannot be "waited for" until it comes within reach of the 

 net. It flies at a terrific rate, but fortunately has a habit of 

 settling on the ground, on tree-trunks, and perhaps oftenest of 

 all on the dead trunks of felled trees. In such a situation we 



