ON LEPIDOPTERA OBSERVED IN LONDON. 201 



regards many of the commoner species (which I fancy might turn 

 up were it possible to make systematic search for them with the 

 aid of the sugaring-tin), contain all the species that I have 

 definite notes, made at the time, of having taken, and for which 

 I can personally answer. For the information of those who are 

 unaware of the position of Ladbroke Square, I may say that it is 

 less than two miles west of the Marble Arch, and is one of the 

 largest of the London " squares," the area being roughly about 

 three acres. It is situated on a heavy clay soil, and slopes 

 from north to south. The nearest open space of any entomo- 

 logical promise is Lord Holland's Park, towards the south-west. 



With regard to collecting in London, one fact is particularly 

 before my mind, which is, that I have never found a moth on a 

 street-lamp, though it is difficult to help searching them when one 

 is out after dark. 



One is naturally led to wonder what good insects might have 

 been taken, in times past, in a locality where, even in the last few 

 years, I have seen blackbirds', thrushes' and hedgesparrows' nests, 

 with eggs, and where in the early morning rooks and starlings 

 may still be seen feeding. The chaffinch and robin are constantly 

 heard singing during the summer months, and to my knowledge 

 nest in the neighbourhood. I have seen spotted flycatchers 

 feeding a family of four, who were sitting on a bough waiting 

 their turn whilst the parents hawked for insects ; they also must 

 presumably have been bred in the immediate vicinity. Flocks of 

 blue tits can be noticed occasionally searching the acacias, and 

 instances of this kind might be multiplied. 



Let me add to this the evidence of one of the assistant 

 gardeners, who has often told me with great gusto how, twenty 

 years ago, his work used to be " not to run over the lawns with a 

 mowing machine, but to cut down the thistles and docks, which, 

 bless your soul. Sir, were as high as my waist." 



"With the advance of " sootilisation " we have various destructive 

 influences at work, such as the death of all the oak trees, killed 

 by the London smoke and fog, the constant digging of the ground, 

 and the total destruction of all weeds, that form such an important 

 article in the dietary of many moths in the larval stage. The 

 comparative immunity which moths enjoy from the attacks of 

 birds is more than counterbalanced by the myriads of gas-lamps 

 luring them to destruction, and the total absence of all "cover" 



ENTOM. — AUGUST, 1887. 2d 



