CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 325 



anything but a scarce butterfly in North France. The " hair-streaks " 

 were a very well-represented family in all the forests. Thecla quercus 

 was the commonest. T. w-albwn and T. pntni were both fairly plenti- 

 ful ; T. betnla was rare. I was fortunate in taking LyccBna acis, a 

 single specimen only, in fair condition, between Guines and the 

 forest, in a pit at the corner of a field, which was a sort of kaleido- 

 scope of butterflies, such a variety and crowd were there ; Melanargia 

 galatea, CoUas edusa, three species of Lyccena, Hesperids ; also four 

 species of Vmiessa. Papilio machaon may be taken earlier in the 

 year ; Aporia cratmii was scarce this summer, and although I did not 

 see a specimen of Vanessa antiopa, I heard of certainly two being taken 

 by a French collector at Boulogne. 



One morning, on the clift', I observed a vast flight or cloud of Pieris 

 brassic(E, steadily flying in a northerly direction, along the side of the 

 cliff; there must have been many hundreds of them, all going in the 

 same direction, as if following the coast. I cannot account for this at 

 all ; it was a bright hot day, with hardly any wind. I was particularly 

 interested in the protective colouration exhibited on the under sides of 

 Satyrus semele, which was extremely common everywhere, and varied 

 in response to its environment. In chalky places the marbling of dark 

 and pale brown on the under side of the hind wings is very much 

 mottled with white, giving the appearance of whitish weather-stained 

 chalk ; on the sandhills the specimens were of a rich buff colour ; 

 while on the heath-land this portion of the wings was always dark, 

 and so nearly agreeing with the rock or earth on which it settles, that 

 so long as it remains with wings closed it is almost impossible to 

 detect it. 



A great number of larvje of Dicranura vinula were to be found on 

 every poplar- tree in the neighbourhood of Wimereux ; each tree had 

 five or six of these caterpillars on it, some nearly full-fed, others quite 

 small ; though I had often found larvie of this particular moth before, 

 I certainly had never seen them in such profusion as these were ; I 

 took sixty larvae off a small poplar-hedge alone, and could have obtained 

 three times the quantity if I had been so disposed. — Gekard H. 

 GuRNEY ; Keswick Hall, Norfolk, Oct. 9th, 1904. 



A Week on the Norfolk Broads. — On the evening of July 30th 

 we arrived at Wroxham and boarded our wherry, ' The Caistor Maid.' 

 A small rowing-boat carried the entomological apparatus — a sheet with 

 the necessary poles, and twelve five-foot posts, on which were nailed 

 pieces of cork, in imitation of Baily's well-known row in Wicken Fen. 

 The day had been fine and sunny, but in the evening it clouded over, 

 and we had heavy rain from the south-west. The journey and the 

 rain prevented an energetic evening, and we contented ourselves with 

 putting up a few posts close to our anchorage, some few hundred 

 yards below Wroxham and at the edge of the fens. To our dismay we 

 found that sugar was as unattractive here as in other places this year. 

 Not a single insect came on this favourable night. My friend Mr. 

 J. H. Wybrants, however, netted two Toxocanrpa pastinum, and a few 

 common wainscots, Epione apiciaria and Cidaria testata, were captured 

 flying round the boat. 



Next day we sailed to Irestead Staithe, close by the entrance to 



ENTOM. — DECEMBER. 1904. 2e 



