( xlii ) 



its ovipositor before extruding an egg: sometimes, indeed, 

 she felt all over the mass before selecting a site. So engrossed 

 was she in the work that when lightly stroked on the thorax 

 she merely shut her wings with a snap and continued oviposit- 

 ing. She was disturbed several times with the same result. 

 The whole period of observation was fifteen minutes, during 

 which about half the eggs were laid. The insect laid the 

 last egg at 11.20 a.m., and then flew away vokintarily. 



" The eggs retained the bright green colour, which concealed 

 them very effectively, until some time between 5.30 p.m. on 

 June 7 and 7.45 a.m. on June 8. When examined at the 

 hour last named they were found to possess a dark leaden 

 colovu', which was unchanged at 5 p.m. on the same day. At 

 7.40 a.m. on June 9, the young larvaj were distinctly visible 

 through the transparent glassy shell, and by 2.40 p.m. they 

 were hatching. The eggs, being laid in a heap, could not be 

 counted, but a careful search on June 21 revealed the presence 

 of 87 larvje." 



The President said that Mr. Hamm's interesting contribu- 

 tion to our knowledge of the life-history of this common species 

 induced him to put on record the details of some observations 

 of his own in 1900 vipon the courtship and pairing of the same 

 butterfly, so that both sets of notes might be published 

 together : — 



"On May 11 of the year 1900 I was fortunate enough to 

 witness the courtship and pairing of a hybernated male and 

 female of Vanessa iirticse. I was crossing a meadow of long gi^ass 

 bordering the river Cherwell just above the Oxford University 

 Parks, when the butterflies flew past me, the male closely 

 pursuing the female. The time was 3.45 p.m., and the sun 

 was bright and warm. The insects flew low, just above the 

 grass. The flight was rather slow and the direction winding, 

 often bringing them over the same spot, so that although they 

 alighted many times in the thirty minutes during which I 

 watched them attentively, the observations were conducted on 

 a spot of ground not more than a few yards square. When- 

 ever they alighted the same attitude and the same relative 

 positions were maintained, both insects resting with outspread 

 wings, the female immediately in front of the male. The 



