130 Dr. G. B. Longstaffs Notes on the Butterflies 



mountains. The " patnas " or grassy areas are bounded 

 by woods, which in their turn are fringed by somewhat 

 stunted scarlet rhododendrons. At the best season it 

 doubtless affords excellent collecting, but I found Mr. 

 Green's statement, that I should be unlikely to light upon 

 the good localities, amply confirmed. 



I saw several Papilio teredon, Feld., flying about, and 

 secured two that were drinking at wet mud. A female 

 Tcrias hecale proved, to be of the wet-season form. Of 

 Neptis varmona I took two. In a sedgy place surrounded 

 by wood, a small "patna," I took the Skipper Baracus 

 vittatus, Feld., curiously enough the only butterfly that I 

 had taken in a swamp up to that date. The streaky 

 markings of the under-side, following the veins, appeared 

 when the insect was settled on sedge to be strongly pro- 

 tective. Of Talicada nyscus I saw several, the only other 

 Blue seen was the aryiohcs-\\ke Cyaniris lanha, Moore, 

 much battered. 



Among moths I found one of the yellow Geometer 

 Corymica specularia, Moore, at rest on a tree-trunk, and 

 one Acidaliid Id/ca costata, Moore. Also on Mt. Pederuta- 

 la.galla, at about 8000 ft., the Skipper Baracus vittahis 

 among sedgy grass and Abraxas sordida, Hmpsn., flying at 

 dusk, nearly uniformly dark fuscous. This last is 

 presumably a scarce insect since the British Museum 

 possesses the type only. 



Eakgdla, alt. 4800 ft. 



On March 19th and 21st I visited the beautifully- 

 situated and well-kept Botanical Garden at Hakgala, 

 some five miles south of Nuwara Eliya and at a con- 

 siderably lower elevation. 



Along the road Catophoya paulina was swarming, males 

 with their sweet-briar-like scent appeared to largely 

 predominate. They flew rapidly and always in the 

 same direction, roughly speaking from south-east to 

 north-west. They frequently flew in strings, just as 

 if they were tied together, and reminded me strongly 

 of the strings of floating stars that are dropped by a 

 certain kind of rocket ; I often saw three, four or five, 

 and once even seven, so following their leader's every 

 movement. 



At a turn of the road close by the gajrc|en there was a. 



