APRIL 101 



after the exhaustion caused by profuse blossom. But the 

 Ribes never fails; year after year it covers itself with 

 fragrant, blushing wreaths in spring, to be followed by 

 steel-blue berries, which are much in request by 

 pheasants. Less well known than the red Ribes is the 

 golden Ribes or buffalo currant (Ribes aureus). Its 

 virtue consists not so much in its flowers which, 

 though individually pretty (yellow, margined with red), 

 are not so conspicuous as those of the other species 

 as in its foliage, which, turning to clear pale gold in 

 autumn, lightens the woods long after most other 

 leaves have fallen. A delectable hybrid, known as R. 

 Gordonianus, has arisen between aureus and sanguin- 

 eus, well worthy of cultivation. Lastly there is the 

 fuchsia - flowered currant (Ribes speciosus), not often 

 enough seen in British gardens, very prickly, and pro- 

 ducing its bright crimson flowers, resembling fuchsia 

 blossoms, in May. I have found this species very liable 

 to be stripped by caterpillars of the currant moth (Abraxas 

 yrossulariata), which, being gregarious, make a clean 

 sweep of any bush which the parent moth selects as a 

 nursery for her brood. This beautiful but destructive 

 insect is remarkable among Lepidoptera from the cater- 

 pillar, chrysalis, and perfect insect being similar in colora- 

 tion to each other. Most moths and butterflies are very 

 different in hue from their caterpillars; but Abraxas 

 sports its gay livery of black, yellow, and white in all 

 stages of its existence. 



Cuckoos are particularly fond of this caterpillar, and 

 are sometimes attracted into the garden in considerable 

 numbers in pursuit of them. My sister reported having 

 counted fourteen one day in her Renfrewshire garden. 



