IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 165 



Newman writes : " The fore wings are so various in colour, that it is 

 impossible to define any particular colour as peculiar to the species ; 

 the prevailing tint is orange or ochreous-grey, sometimes inclining to 

 brick-red, at others to grey-brown, and again at other times to simple 

 ochreous ; the discoidal spots are generally present, but in some speci- 

 mens I find no trace of them ; the reniform is long and rather narrow ; 

 it is outlined in pale yellowish-grey, and the median area is grey- 

 brown ; the orbicular is extremely narrow and very oblique ; its 

 obliquity is in a contrary direction to that of the reniform ; the wing- 

 rays are sometimes much paler than the general area, and when this 

 is the case, slender transverse lines across them, give the entire 

 surface of the wing a reticulated appearance ; the costal margin is 

 spotted, the spots being both darker and lighter than the ground 

 colour ; there are also several transverse series of darker spots or mark- 

 ings ; the hind wings are very dark smoke-colour, with pale fringes " 

 (' British Moths,' p. 367). Guenee writes : " No species varies more 

 than this, and none has been divided into more species. Its varieties 

 are very difficult to classify, because, on the one side the passage of 

 one race into others is so general and therefore difficult to limit ; and 

 again, because some names given by authors are not always well de- 

 fined. The type itself is in the last category described by Fabricius 

 from the collection of Schiffermiiller, and figured poorly by Hiibner. It 

 ought to comprise those individuals of a clear brown or greyish, with 

 the base a little paler, and the terminal and subterminal spaces darker, 

 in which the subterminal stands out distinctly ; the black dots numer- 

 ous and the design generally well-marked. It is easily confounded 

 with the var. lyehnidu, and has, like that, the middle of the costa often 

 streaked with white and the nervures more or less distinct " 

 (' Noctuelles,' vol. v., p. 364). Fabricius' description of the type is as 

 follows : " Noctua cristata, alis deflexis cinereis apice obscurioribus 

 undatis, posticis fuscis." ' Corpus griseum. Ala3 cinereas striata3, 

 basi parurn pallidiores punctis nigris, apice obscuriores striga undata 

 pallida posteriorique e punctis nigris" ('Mantissa,' p. 175). 



The following is an attempt to classify the varieties we get : 

 1. Pale greyish-ochreous, with faint, transverse, costal streaks and 



stigmata = var. pallida. 

 la. Pale greyish-ochreous, with distinct costal streaks and stigmata 



= var. serina, Esp. 



"2. Pale reddish-ochreous, unicolorous = var. obsolete. 

 2a. Pale reddish-ochreous, with distinct costal streaks and stigmata 



= var. sphterulatina, Haw. 

 2b. Pale reddish-ochreous, with distinct markings and pale nervures 



= pivtacina, Fab. 



3. Bright red, almost unicolorous = var. ferrea, Haw. 

 3a. Bright red, with distinct costal streaks and stigmata = var. 



lineola, Haw. 

 3b. Bright red, with distinct markings and pale nervures = var. 



lyclmidis, Fab. 

 4. Brown (slightly ochreous), almost unicolorous == var. unicolor- 



brunnea. 



4-a. Brown, with distinct costal streaks and stigmata == var. brunnea. 

 4b. Brown, with distinct markings and pale nervures = var. ceiwsa, 



Haw. 

 5. Blackish-grey = var. canaria, Esp. 



