42 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
Judging the success of the whole campaign from a not unusual 
point of view,—the mere accumulation of specimens,—it certainly 
is not grand, but there is another phase of the matter; taking 
into consideration the abnormal season, and in consequence the 
few favourable opportunities for working, I am not inclined to be 
dissatisfied with the practical knowledge obtained of the habits of 
many species with which I was previously unacquainted. 
In conelusion I will relate a curious circumstance that came 
under my observation on Sunday evening, August 10th. I was 
walking over Steephill Down, Ventnor, the light was fast 
declining, the air still and sultry, and a thunder-storm impending. 
I noticed, just over head, a moth soaring upwards; whilst 
watching it I became aware of others ascending in like manner, 
all towering in a spiral flight, and soon lost to view. On looking 
down | perceived others around me, starting from out of the 
furze; I made frantic efforts to secure a specimen so as to 
determine the species, but unfortunately, not having my net, I 
was unable to do so. I can only say that in size and shape they 
were not unlike Plusia gamma. Iwas at the time, and still am, 
unable to assign any cause for this unusual mounting to the 
upper air. 
18, Bonchurch Villas, Ealing, Jan. 7, 1880. 
LIFE-HISTORY OF NOLA CENTONALIS. 
By W. H. TueGwentu. 
On the 15th of August, 1879, I had the good fortune to 
capture two female Nola centonalis whilst collecting in Kent. As 
nothing was known of the life-history of this rare moth I risked 
spoiling my specimens by keeping them for eggs. Both deposited 
small batches, but only one lot proved fertile; these, thirty-six 
in number, soon showed signs of vitality. 
When first deposited the ova were pearly white, beautifully 
striated, and somewhat hemispherical in form, i.¢€., convex above, 
flattened beneath. In two or three days a small dark central spot 
appeared, which increased in intensity till the time of hatching, 
which took place on August 27th. I hada difficult problem to 
solve, for I had no knowledge of the food-plant of the larve, so I 
collected portions of twelve different plants that grew about the 
locality of capture of the moths. These were enclosed in a wide- 
