234 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



with that inimitable languorous grace which they display in the 

 sunshine ; they merely fluttered uneasily round the tops of the 

 hollies and settled down again, heedless of clods and other incite- 

 ments. We ploughed, almost literally, through Stubby Copse, and 

 saw a few Hesperia si/lvaniis, evidently just out, bright as gold, 

 and caring little for the reeking moisture. Met a coleopterist, 

 who thought he had seen A. iris. With this doubtful encourage- 

 ment we emerged upon the Brockenhurst Road, and were at once 

 favoured with a gleam of sunshine and the capture of .4. aglaia, 

 always a lovely species, and doubly welcome after the morning's 

 experience. Brockenhurst Station at last, and on the platform a 

 group of porters holding an inquiry upon a huge and disreputable 

 Smerinthiis 2)02)idi, which had been caught napping on the palings. 

 After lunch we returned by train to Lyndhurst Eoad, where an 

 hour of sunshine was iruitlessly spent in looking for Melanargia 

 galatea. Its favourite riding near the station was quite deserted, 

 and I am told it has completely disappeared from this locality. 



Fortunately, the spell of bad weather came to an end that 

 night, and next day, and for very many days after, there was 

 glorious sunshine. The forest began to look more like itself 

 with a few A. j^aphia out for their first flight, and the "white 

 admirals" showed themselves more freely. They were still, 

 however, far from common, though the few specimens that 

 appeared were exquisitely fresh. Those who do not breed L. 

 Sibylla can seldom see it in perfection. The deep soft black, 

 which is its principal charm, gets rusty very soon by exposure 

 to sun and rain. On the heaths Polyommatm agon was out in 

 great numbers. Still, it was quite clear that I was too early for 

 most things, the season being unusually backward. A couple of 

 nights' sugaring, from which I returned empty, save for one 

 Leiicania turca and a few Calligenia miniata, convinced me that 

 I had better employ myself elsewhere for a time, and leave the 

 forest to develope its entomological resources in peace against 

 my return. 



Accordingly I went down to Bournemouth, and began to pros- 

 pect for insects around Swanage — always a likely place for other 

 things besides H. actceon. M. galatea was the first to appear, 

 and after failing to find it in its old quarters at Lyndhurst, I 

 was glad to get a few choice specimens. In a day or two after 

 my first visit this butterfly was prodigiously abundant, and it 

 was possible to take any quantity of both sexes. But, quite 

 apart from any question of needless waste, the pleasure of 

 catching M. galatea soon palls. It may be magnificent, for 

 beginners, but it is not sport, for the insect is hardly, to say the 

 least, a spirited flyer. Such an easy prey is demoralising, and 

 when presently Colias edusa went past like a rocket, I was not 

 in the least surprised at missing him by several yards. It was 

 no surprise, either, on reaching the H. actceon locality, to see 



