DECEMBER. 189 



rated upon by a playful kitten ; the hedge-sparrow darts 

 through the tangled mazes of the hedge, while the 

 sober-coloured wren glides along the bank, popping in 

 and out of the holes and through the herbage in search 

 of hybernated Diptera and other small fry of the 

 like kind ; and the handsome and sprightly little gold- 

 crest (Regulus auricapillus) beautifies the dark 

 branches of the pine by his gay dress and sprightly 

 motions. 



But do the birds alone give life to the otherwise 

 dreary scene ? No ! for on the trunks of the ash the 

 pretty December moth (Pcecilocampa Populi) may 

 be found, and on old palings at night Exapate gela- 

 tella may still be seen, while in houses Endrosis fenes- 

 trella still makes his presence known by immolating 

 himself in the candle flame. 



But although stress of weather has compelled us to 

 lay up our nets in port, and Bombyces, Noctuce, Geo- 

 metrce, Tortrices, Tinece or Py rales do not fall into 

 our nets at the gentle admonition of the beating-stick 

 as during the genial summer time, yet we may equip 

 ourselves with "the tin canister and glass jar," and 

 betaking ourselves to the sheltered sides of woods, to 

 grassy banks and hedge-rows, or licheny tree trunks 

 and similarly beautified palings, reap a rich reward for 

 our perseverance by obtaining the larvae of many of 

 the winter -feeding species, for the larvae or pupae of all 

 the species enumerated last month may be obtained 

 during this, with the exception of the larvae of Nepti- 

 cula Septembrella, subbimaculella and an$ulifascietta, 

 and Lithocolletis alnifoliella and Stettinensis ; while 



