RANNOCH. 151 



series of each species, no matter how common, found in such a 

 place should be carefully preserved for comparison with those 

 from other localities. 



With the limited space at my command it would be incon- 

 venient to give a list of all the Lepidoptera to be found in the 

 Black Wood ; but suffice it to say that, no matter what be the 

 season of the year between April, when the sallows are well worth 

 working, and November, when certain rare Peronias and other 

 hybernating species still linger, there is always something to be 

 discovered in this rich locality. The immense fir trees give 

 shelter when too windy to work in more exposed places, and the 

 rich undergrowth of heather and bilberry protect hybernating 

 larvae and pupae from the very severe frosts of winter. In the 

 height of the entomological season, on a suitable day, insects 

 occur in such profusion that it is at times difficult to select on a 

 first visit, what one would care most to take. Against this charm, 

 however, we have as a set-off the bloodthirsty Diptera, which 

 are generally left masters of the position. I have had some 

 experience of mosquitos, but none I have met with could be more 

 severe in their punishment than can be these large gnats of 

 Eannoch. Among the Lepidoptera peculiar to the Black Wood 

 are Fidonia brunneata (July 1), at times common enough to be a 

 nuisance to the collector. Mixodia palustrana (July) also is to 

 be found chiefly among the bilberry beds. Sesia scoliceformis has 

 been found (by Mr. Cooke) on the large birches, but, although 1 

 long sought for them, I never came nearer than an empty pupa- 

 case. 



As we leave the Black Wood we enter upon Mrs. Robertson's 

 property, and the cottage to the right by the lake-side is her 

 keeper's house. If she will give the visitor permission to wander 

 over her moors, as she most kindly gave to me, he will be a 

 happy man, for on her estate occurs nearly every species which 

 has been taken in the Eannoch district. The crofters' cottages 

 and their "bothies" to the left form the village of Camachgouran 

 as spelled by the natives, or Camghouran of the Ordnance 

 maps. The moor above the village is full of entomological 

 riches, and the higher one gets in the various ranges of hills the 

 more varied the fauna and flora. In the meadows below the 

 little graveyard and by the lake-side I used to take the pretty 

 Emmelesia blandiata among the eyebright, and at rest on the birch 



