106 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
Hill, the highest hill in Lancashire being close to, had something 
to do with the rainfall. It was never safe for many hours to be 
far away from some sort of shelter, for, although it was cold and 
sunless, heaven’s artillery opened fire both by night and day; 
during a great part of the season it seemed out of place not to be 
saluted by sudden heavy peals of thunder. One day, too near to 
be pleasant,—a sudden flash, a heavy crash, and the electric 
fluid,—a veritable thunderbolt fell a few yards from me. 
Moths of all sorts were very late: March species out in June, 
such as T’eniocampa rubricosa, Cidaria suffumata, &e.; while July 
species, such as Carsia imbutata, I took at the end of September. 
Great numbers of specimens I should say never emerged at all; 
I should think especially such species as Dicranura bicuspis; I 
only saw one new empty case where the moth had gone, after 
looking over thousands of alder tree trunks. I did a little sugaring, 
but owing to the continuous rains I could not go into the woods 
which were most likely. Some of the woodland species seemed 
to be in countless numbers among the Vacciniwm (bilberry) ; 
Grapholita geminana, Peronea Caledoniana and Penthina sauciana 
larvee seemed to have literally blighted the plants; ali the tops 
looked yellow, acre after acre; few of the berries were to be 
found. ‘The old gamekeeper would not believe it was the work of 
caterpillars. For some time when the moths appeared it was 
simply a useless task to try to catch anything else but Grapholita 
geminana and P. Caledoniana; only hit a tree and they came out 
in swarms. 
The country being comparatively new to me I had many a 
journey to no purpose on exploring expeditions. I did expect the 
honeysuckles to repay me with some Plusia bractea; but nothing 
better than P. v-awreum and P. iota; G.geminana became a pest and 
a plague, completely driving me from the lower grounds. I took 
a man with me to the P. bractea locality, where I used to take 
nothing else some thirty years ago. Well, moths came thick and 
fast; I struck twelve moths in succession. I came home in great 
glee, and, anxious enough to pin all my P. bractea, chloroformed 
them at once,—pins, poison, and all ready. I invited my wife to 
come and see the great catch: opening a box out tumbles 
P. gamma; twelve P. gamma instead of twelve P. bractea being 
the result. But off I go again and again, with the same luck; so 
at last I left utterly disgusted, not having got a specimen. 
