358 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



department of Entomology he has had no equal in this 

 country. His life-histories of Apatura Iris, Limenitis Sybilla, 

 and Argynnis Aglaia, are the most perfect and complete of 

 any that have yet seen the light: his patience was in- 

 exhaustible, and the greatest treat in entomological con- 

 versation 1 have ever enjoyed was his own narrative of 

 watching the progress of these proceedings: he could tell at 

 a glance the sex of the butterfly he vvas watching, and, if a 

 female, could at once decide on the business she had in 

 hand ; the mere every-day occupation of feeding was con- 

 ducted in so different a manner from the more important task 

 of oviposition, that he could instantly decide on which of 

 ihese objects she was bent. No sooner was he perfectly 

 certain that an egg of either of these species had been de- 

 posited, whether high up in the tangled wood, on the leaves 

 of the honeysuckle, in sou)e of the clearings on the sallows, 

 or near the very ground on the leaves of the violet, than he 

 would at once possess himself of a treasure scarcely large 

 enough to attract the notice of any other observer : having 

 once secured the egg, he never failed in rearing it to a per- 

 fect insect ; and thus the previously obscure economy of 

 many a rarity was made known. In the sister science of 

 Ornithology, Dr. Maclean was equally expert, and his skill 

 in procuring the living bird was probably never surpassed. 

 No sooner had the vernal migration commenced than the 

 Doctor vvas on the alert to observe his featliered favourites : 

 no action could escape him ; and thus by indomitable 

 patience and perseverance he acquired an unequalled know- 

 ledge of our insectivorous birds. Of this knowledge he con- 

 stantly availed himself in securing even the most wary. By 

 observing the manner of flight and course taken by a bird, 

 he learned so to prepare his nets that they were invisible to 

 the bird, but yet strong enough to secure it : these nets were 

 suspended with exquisite delicacy by the side of hedges or 

 in ditches, in such a manner as to fold up and envelope the 

 bird directly it flew against the net, and thus it vvas secured 

 without the slightest injury. In gardening, also, Dr. Maclean 

 was preeminently successful ; the varieties of peas, as well 

 as garden flowers, which he raised from seed, have become 

 well known and highly esteemed by the horticulturist. — 

 Edward Newman. 



