Butterfly Migrations in British Guiana. 161 



flying across the Essequebo River from Wakenaam to Hog 

 Island and Great Troolie Island [all near the mouth of the 

 river]. They were flying chiefly in ones, but twos and 

 threes and higher numbers were not infrequent, whilst 

 once in a way a flock of twelve to twenty could be counted. 

 The great majority were males. . . . Soon after Kurubaru 

 Islands were passed the butterflies were seen to be flying 

 from the mainland towards Wakenaam. Going on towards 

 Aurora and Suddie on the west bank at the mouth of the 

 river they were seen flying upstream, following, it seemed, 

 the direction of the wind." All the directions mentioned 

 are between south and east. 



8. Mr. Marshall, who was for many years Manager of 

 a sugar plantation near Suddie, on the west bank of the 

 mouth of the Essequebo, tells me that migrations of the 

 yellow butterfly are a regular phenomenon there, chiefly 

 in May and June, rarely July, always flying from the N.W. 

 towards the S.E., which is across the prevailing N.E. 

 wind. They come from the north-west, and frequently 

 reach the coast just north of the Suddie; there they turn 

 southward along the coast to the mouth of the Essequebo 

 and then cross over via Tiger Island, Wakenaam, Leguan, 

 etc. It must have been one of these migrations which 

 Moore describes above (7). 



9. Mr. Humphreys, for many years Manager of a sugar 

 plantation at Amia Regina, which is not far from Suddie, 

 says that he has frequently seen migrations going in a 

 northerly direction down the Essequebo River and up the 

 Coast. This is in the exact opposite direction to the last 

 recorder, but there is, I think, no reason to doubt that both 

 are possible. Mr. Humphreys made the further interesting 

 remark that the butterflies were sometimes in a long, 

 narrow band, only ten to twenty feet wide. 



10. Mr. Rodway, in " Timehri " (see above), 3rd Series, 

 vol. i (1911), p. 131, says : '' Callidryas eiibule ... is 

 noted for its extensive flights; for hours they have been 

 seen passing over the Demerara River going east, probably 

 bilhons in number, and all males. Whence they come and 

 whither they go is a mystery. Their food-plants [Cassia] 

 are common everywhere, and there does not appear to be 

 any scarcity of females." He refers again to this migration 

 in '"In the Guiana Forest," 2nd edition, 1911, p. 122, 

 but with no further particulars. 



11. Mr. Peterkin, of the Department of Agriculture, 



TEANS. ENT. SOC. LOND. 1917. — PAET I. (NOV.) M 



