1895] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 1 39 



certain kinds of grasses near Lake Harriet, a beautiful sheet of 

 water in the suburbs of Minneapolis, and surrounded in part by 

 a public park with fine roads for driving, I passed a large elm 

 tree. Some ten feet from the ground was a small cavity in this 

 tree, almost entirely hidden by an old spider-web. Happening 

 to look upwards I observed a moth that was not yet represented 

 in my collection, and acting upon the rule that a poor specimen 

 is better than none, I rolled some stones against the tree to enable 

 me to reach the specimen. As I was reaching for it the appar- 

 ently dead insect took wings and disappeared. Of course this 

 was decidedly unexpected, as the whole appearance of the moth 

 was that of a dead one captured some time ago by a spider. 

 Ruefully looking at the pile of stones, a monument to blasted 

 hopes, I continued my search for grasses, yet the thought of 

 having been duped by an insect rankled in my mind for over an 

 hour, when I reached the conclusion that something had been 

 wrong about these proceedings, and so I retraced my steps to 

 make at least an attempt to solve the mystery. As good luck 

 would have it, the same, or another specimen of the same kind, 

 occupied the identical spot, apparently also dead. With great 

 caution I approached and reached for the insect, when — presto — 

 it disappeared by suddenly flying around the tree, so that my 

 eyes could not follow it or observe it settling. Knowing now that 

 one or more of these moths must be in the vicinity I proceeded 

 as if hunting for CatacolcB, by cutting off a twig full of leaves. 

 This, however, wound up the affair in a most unexpected manner, 

 as the rough voice of a policeman ordered me away, even threat- 

 ened to arrest me for cutting off plants. Telling him why I had 

 done so made little impression upon him, evidently not possess- 

 ing any entomological inclinations, and I had to postpone further 

 investigations until the following morning. Taking my boy along, 

 and starting early, we found that the coast was clear, and not to 

 offend again I used the twig cut off previously. The very first 

 tree, when brushed with the twig, seemed to be alive with the de- 

 sired moths, but they disappeared so rapidly among the other 

 trees in the grove that none could exactly be spotted. I now re- 

 mained stationary and had my boy flush other specimens, and by 

 concentrating all attention upon one individual moth I saw it settle 

 upon a tree and — disappear. By continuing the work of flushing 

 the moths I soon had an opportunity to see the whole operation 



