(G45) [xlii 
the cluster does not present any approach to a regular form, 
the butterfly was apparently always very careful to feel with 
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 voluntarily. 
“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 
colour, which was unchanged at 5 p.m. on the same day. At 
7.40 a.m. on June 9, the young larve 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 larve.” 
The PresipEnT 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 upon 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 urticx. I was crossing a meadow of long grass 
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 
