n 



venience. In the eai-ly Spring, in some places, we saw little 

 colonies of the black and red bug, i'l/rrJioeoris apterus. These 

 conspicuous insects might be seen running over the stones, 

 frequently jostling each other. On the whole they appeared to be 

 of a lively and rather affectionate nature. 



We saw the first butterflies on the 6th March, when one (Joncpteri/x 

 rluunni appeared in the garden. In the afternoon we went to the 

 Haselburg, across the river. This is a wooded and rocky slope, and 

 is one of the most northern haunts of the horned viper which, 

 however, we were not lucky enough to meet with, though we saw 

 several stuffed specimens in the museum at Botzen. In our walk 

 towards Leifers we saw KiKjoiiia poli/chloros and Vanessa io on the 

 wing, and flying among the birch trees were many specimens of a 

 species of HiepJios, which we were unable to capture. In many 

 places in the woods at this time the ground was sprinkled over with 

 the blue or white flowers of the Hepatica. Most of the flowers 

 were blue, and they stood out brightly against the dark soil like 

 scattered stars. Of bluebells we saw none. On March 12th I saw 

 a butterfly which I had never seen alive before ; it was LibytJiea 

 reltis which settled at my feet on the garden path with open wings. 

 In the afternoon we walked up to Rafenstein, one of the numerous 

 old castles with which the district abounds. Among some young- 

 oaks we saw a tineid flying, and after much hat-waving, we captured 

 the moth, which turned out to be ( 'erastoma radiatella. One is often 

 meeting with old friends in out of the way places. Many of the 

 weeds in the hotel garden were also old acquaintances. I noticed 

 Stellaria media, Laiiiuiin piD'piu-einii and L. ample. ricaiile. The two 

 latter bore larger and more deeply coloured blossoms than they 

 usually do in England. There was the little Veronica heden/folia, 

 and another of the same genus with large and very bright blue 

 flowers. Chelidoniuiii mojits and Senecio vulgaris were growing- 

 bravely, and, of course, Taraxacum officinale and Poa annua. The 

 two last mentioned weeds are, I should say, the two most abundant 

 in central Europe. A very common weed in the vineyards I took 

 to be a species of AHiinn. Of the plants growing among the rocks, 

 perhaps the most conspicuous was Gcraniinn sani/uinemn with its 

 large crimson flowers. In the Sarnthal we found a large plant of 

 Datura stramonium : it was too early for the flowers, but the dried 

 stems still retained many of the curious prickly capsules. The first 

 tree to enliven the woodlands was Cornus mas. One could see the 

 bright yellow spots they made in the landscape from a long distance. 

 Later on the chief feature was afforded by the numerous wild 

 cherries, Prunus cerasus, covered with white bloom and bright 

 green leaves. These trees were much loved by one of the most 

 graceful of the Lepidoptera, Ipliiclides podalirius. Perhaps the 

 most interesting tree to a northern naturalist, was the nettle tree, 

 Celtis australis. There was a very fine one on the Archduke's walk. 

 I should say it was over 30 feet in height and well grown all round. 



