312 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [December, 



ested in that study I have been obliged to rely entirely upon in- 

 formation gleaned from journals and the actual experience gained 

 by held observation. The first thing made apparent was the 

 periodical scarcity of certain insects followed in time by seasons 

 of plenty, in which I learned to lay by a supply to draw upon 

 during the long years of disappearance. 



Every collector keeps in mind some favorite spot where, in 

 years, gone by, some lucky find has endeared it to him, and with 

 what eager anticipation he visits it from time to time ! Each 

 year other spots are added until his entomological trips take the 

 form of great circles with lucky spots strung all along like beads. 

 One day I accidentally discovered that all my circles had been 

 jumbled together and centered in one straight line along the 

 shore of Lake Superior, and thereafter by watching the tempera- 

 ture and direction of winds, was always sure of finding a great 

 variety of insects and among them many rare ones. 



One Spring, after a heavy warm rain, I visited the beach for 

 an afternoon's outing with the children, and they delight in such 

 outings after being housed through the long Winter. The river 

 poured a yellow flood out over the dark blue waters of the lake 

 which the waves caught and spread with its debris of chips, bark 

 and driftwood, over a broad expanse. These fragments were all 

 carrying their load of life; it happened to be, this time, mostly 

 Carabidae, particularly Calosoma calidum, with a sprinkling of 

 every sort usually found under logs, stones and in low damp 

 situations; all caught by the sudden rise of waters and floated on 

 these handy life-preservers to whatever spot fate might take them. 

 Every wave brought them tumbling onto the sands, although 

 they were time and again carried back, until some splash heavier 

 than usual landed them where they had time to crawl up the logs 

 and higher places on the sand, where the general warmth of the 

 sun drove away the chilliness caused by the water, when they 

 flew away among the trees back of the beach or hid under the 

 drift wood. My greatest harvest, however, came not through 

 the accident of a freshet, but by the warmth and general awak- 

 ening of insect life in what we call the early Spring — the latter 

 days of May, even though there may be ice in the hidden nooks 

 along the north shore. Long after visitors from other cities make 

 their appearance upon our streets clad in straw hats and light 

 colored clothing, the chill from the icy waters of the lake pene- 



