274 Mr. H. J. Elwes’ catalogue of the 
where there is more or less sun almost every day, even 
in the rainy season; than we do on the middle zone, 
where the forests which clothe the hill-sides above 
6000 ft. attract the clouds and condense them into 
rain. And I particularly remarked, during the rainy 
season of 1886, that the zone of elevation from 4000 to 
6000 ft., which is perhaps the richest of all in birds and 
plants, is comparatively much poorer in insects than 
the zones below it, partly, I believe, on account of the 
comparative want of sunshine, and partly on account of 
the extensive clearing of forest for cultivation, which 
has been going on much more extensively and rapidly 
since the introduction of tea cultivation. This observa- 
tion, however, does not apply to the Heterocera, for, 
on the contrary, I found all families of moths except 
Sphingide, and the day-flying Chalcosiide and Agaristide, 
infinitely more abundant both in individuals and species 
at from 6000 to 9000 ft. than they are between 4000 and 
6000 ft. And though, owing to the unhealthy climate of 
the valleys below 2000 ft., especially at night, I have had 
but little opportunity of collecting moths in the lowest 
valleys, yet I do not believe that they are so numerous 
in proportion to the butterflies as they are at Darjeeling 
itself, where at about 7000 ft. elevation, in a single night, 
I collected above 120 species of Heterocera. 
With regard to the notes on elevations, and months of 
appearance of species given in this paper, I must say 
that they cannot pretend to be more than approximately 
correct, as, though they are drawn up by Moller from 
seven years’ experience, yet a large number of them are 
based on the specimens brought in weekly by his native 
collectors, and refer in many cases to species which 
neither he or I could ever have believed to be half as 
numerous as they are if we had relied on our own 
observations alone. The assistance which we have 
derived from these native collectors is very great, and 
some of the Lepchas, who have been encouraged to 
persevere in taking the smaller and less conspicuous 
species, have developed a talent for collecting which any 
European might envy. Living as they do in the low 
valleys, able to endure an extreme of damp heat which 
is most exhausting to us, and knowing by long expe- 
rience the exact spots, and the seasons when the rarer 
species are to be found, they have procured in abundanee, 
