COLLECTING IN NORTH DEVON. 155 



or poking about the hedges, ditches, &c., or examining his 

 sugared trees, cannot be reconciled to the mind of the native 

 under any other hypothesis than that the entomologist is "mazed," 

 and as such is regarded accordingl}'. One good lady imparted the 

 information to her local gossips, in reference to myself, that she 

 " Know'th he be after vearns." The ferns of North Devon are 

 certainly charming, but it would be a simple waste of energy on 

 the one hand, and sweets on the other, to hunt for them with 

 either net or sugar. Another worthy matron, a rural postmistress, 

 whose thirst for knowledge was only excelled by her zeal on 

 behalf of " the property of the postmaster-general," inquired if a 

 small parcel of specimens I wished to be weighed contained 

 cream ! As the said parcel w-as small and under four ounces, the 

 feeling which prompted the query was somewhat evident; so 

 I contented myself by answering in the negative, without stating 

 the nature of contents. 



I occupied myself during April and May in "prospecting" 

 the district, and in observing the character of the flora, so 

 that my captures were not numerous. I was only able to 

 work the sallows once or twice towards the end of April. 

 On one of those occasions the bushes were alive with Scotosia 

 diibitata, but most of the specimens I examined were faded in 

 colour, though not much worn. A few Tceniocampa ruhricosa, 

 T. gracilis, and one T. miniosa, occurred that same evening, 

 together with a host of the commoner species of the genus ; also 

 Eupithecia pumilata, E. abhreviata, and Lohophora lobulata. I 

 should state that this was one of the few balmy evenings we had 

 during the month. During May I collected large numbers of 

 larvae from bilberry and heather, mostly of the Noctuse group ; 

 among them were a few Agrotis agathina. The larvae of Triphcena 

 fimbria was abundant, but seemed more partial to the bloom of 

 the wood-sedge or rush {Luziila sylvatica). 



Most of the hedges in North Devon are formed of beech, 

 with here and there a bush of birch or sallow ; others are 

 made of furze, with a sprinkling of hawthorn or broom ; 

 but whether of beech or furze, always on the top of a bank 

 of earth faced with stones. This bank is often so covered 

 with heather as to hide the stones ; where this is the case, 

 and the hedge itself is of beech, and all in full foliage, the eifect 

 is pleasing. About these beech hedges I met with a few Demas 



