150 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
because of the gradual ascent from the hot low plains and hills, 
fragrant with the scent of endless sweet-smelling herbs, through 
the dense ‘‘ maquis,’’ which is the Corsican name for the thick, 
in many places almost impenetrable, bush which covers all the 
hillsides up to about 2000 ft., and which is composed of arbutus, 
Mediterranean heath, and myrtle scrub, leaving which the line 
goes through woods of splendid chestnut trees, with picturesque 
villages perched on the tops of rocky hills, or lying hidden in 
sheltered valleys, till it reaches the pine forests and eventually 
stops at the station of Vizzavona. 
Here we were very soon comfortably settled in the very clean 
and nice Grand Hotel, which in spite of its name is a sufficiently 
simple establishment, but perfectly comfortable for a lengthened 
stay. Vizzavona is right on the edge of the magnificent pine 
and beech forest, and consists of the hotel, post-office, two or 
three small villas, and half a dozen cottages; but it is a con- 
venient centre, and most of the Corsican butterfly specialities 
may be taken within a short distance. The afternoon we arrived 
we went for a short walk in the direction of Tattone, a small 
hamlet some three miles further on. It was very cool and dull, 
with only occasional gleams of sun, and we did not see a single 
insect of any description, which was rather a damper to one’s 
entomological enthusiasm. The heliocrysum, which was so 
conspicuous a feature at Ajaccio, covering the ground with 
golden blossom, was at this elevation not in flower. 
Next morning was brilliantly fine, and we started off betimes, 
through the forest, past the Monte d’Oro hotel, which is forty 
minutes’ walk from Vizzavona, and on to the Col de Vergio ; on the 
way up we saw very little, an occasional L. sinapis and a single 
fine Pyrameis atalanta sitting on a plant in a patch of sunlight 
which forced its way through the thick pine trees. 
However, when we emerged from the forest on to the moun- 
tain side matters mended somewhat, and it was not long before 
IT had taken one of the Corsican specialities, viz. Canonympha ~ 
corinna. Near the Monte d’Oro hotel, in the very black-coloured 
Corsican nettles, were many larve of Aglais urtice var. ichnusa 
in all stages of growth. I collected a good number of these, but 
only took the smallest specimens, as I knew if I took full-fed 
ones I should probably breed out about ninety per cent. of 
ichneumons; those I kept fed up and emerged nearly a month 
later, when I had got back to England, all fine large examples 
of this interesting insular form of urtice, not a single one being 
ichneumoned. On the ‘‘ Nek” itself Lycena argus (egon) var. 
corsica was flying about quite commonly amongst the bracken 
and small juniper bushes, which here thickly cover the top of 
the Pass on either side of the road; they were quite fresh, but 
the beautifully marked females were rather scarce. 
Passing over the ‘“‘ Nek”’ and descending a little the other 
