276 Mr. H. J. Elwes’ catalogue of the 
80 or 90 in. at Pashok and Badamtam,* which are low 
down behind the great forest-covered hill of Sinchul ; on 
a northern spur of which Darjeeling stands; to 150 or 
180 in. at Rungbi and Kursiong. When a seasonal 
variation occurs in the markings and ocellation of 
certain species, which has been proved to be the case by 
Messrs. de Nicéville and Moller, it may be expected in 
the broods appearing at the beginning of the hot season, 
and at the beginning and end of the rainy seasons; but, 
as these periods are more or less variable and not 
defined so sharply as in the plains, so also do we find 
the seasonal forms less sharply defined, and sometimes 
connected by intermediate varieties, as is also the case 
in some European and American species. It must also 
be remembered in connection with this subject that the 
period required for the completion of the preliminary 
staves in Lepidoptera is much shorter in a tropical than 
in a temperate climate, and that it is therefore more 
difficult to lay down any rule for the appearance of 
seasonal forms. Lastly, we have a period of cold 
weather lasting from November till February, and 
accompanied by some rain, mist, and hoar-frost at 
elevations of 5-—7000 ft., which is almost a dead season 
for butterflies, though in the Terai and lowest valleys a 
considerable number of species may be taken even at 
this season. 
It must not be supposed, from a perusal of this list, 
that many of the species which I have marked as 
common are common in the sense that we sometimes 
use the word. I have spent many months without once 
seeing insects, which, though abundant in certain spots 
or at certain seasons, are by no means generally distri- 
buted ; and, though I am inclined to say of butterflies 
what Sir Joseph Hooker says of plants, namely, that 
they are not so loeal or narrowly limited in their range 
in the Himalayas as in Europe, yet it would require 
some years of diligent search to obtain anything like an 
idea of the variety which really exist even in sucha 
restricted locality as Sikkim. And for this reason 
I think but little importance can be attached to generali- 
sations based on a few weeks or even a few months of 
* At Singla, elevation 2000 ft., in 1884 only 48 in. were recorded, 
but the average is about 80 in. 
