66 LEPIDOPTERA. 



some other place of shelter. It sits usually upon the under- 

 side of a leaf, though often on the upper side, on a birch-tree 

 or bush, and as its wings are all laid quite flatly down, the 

 fore wings partially concealing the hind, it bears the closest 

 possible resemblance to a dead brown leaf. At night it 

 comes freely to a strong light, the female showing equal 

 partiality thereto, and both may often be found on gas lamps 

 at night in suitable situations. Especially attached to such 

 sandy heaths as have a good sprinkling of birch bushes, but 

 also found in woods, and even hedges in woody districts, if its 

 favourite tree exists. Generally common in such situations 

 throughout the southern half of England, except perhaps in 

 the Midland fen districts, where it seems to be more scarce 

 and local. Found, though not commonly, in Derbyshire, 

 Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Lancashire and Cheshire, more 

 commonly in Lincolnshire, and in most pai-ts of Yorkshire, 

 also locally in Cumberland. Apparently scarce in Wales, 

 but recorded from Glamorganshire, and probably to be found 

 elsewhere. Much more common in Scotland, in Perthshire, 

 Inverness-shire, in Clydesdale, and even in Ross ; indeed, the 

 south-east appears to be the only portion of the mainland of 

 Scotland fi'om which it is totally absent. In Ireland scarce 

 but very widely distributed ; Kerry, Mayo, Galway, Donegal, 

 Tyrone, Londonderry and elsewhere. Its range abroad is 

 very wide, through Central and Northern Europe except the 

 coldest regions, Piedmont, Bithynia, and Southern Russia : 

 also in North America, where it seems to have received a 

 variety of names ; the ordinary typical female, from New 

 York and other parts of the United States, being called 

 fabula, while genicida stands as a name for both sexes ; 

 another form from the United States, Canada, and Nova 

 Scotia, in which the ovate grey-brown spot is only repre- 

 sented by one or two black dots, is called arcuata, but it 

 agi'ees so accurately in every other detail with this species 

 that its distinctness seems very doubtful. 



