A FORTNIGHT IN SHETLAND. 275 



Our main object was of course the capture of Cnjmodes exulis, 

 and for this we were told the high ground between Loch of 

 Cliffe and the western coast was the best localit}'. 



There is not a tree nor even a bush on the island except a 

 few planted in gardens, so we were fortunate in finding several 

 wire fences with wooden posts, which ran east and west right 

 across the exulis ground. Two of these fences were about on a 

 level with Baltasound, near the head of Loch of Cliffe, while two 

 more were at the far end of that loch. The former were within 

 a mile or so of the hotel — to get to the latter necessitated a 

 bicycle ride of at least five miles, as a long detour via Harolds- 

 wick had (,0 be made. Eventually we fixed on the most 

 northerly fence of all, which started from where the lighthouse 

 keepers lived, at a place called Fiskna Wick on the west side of 

 Burrafirth, and to this fence we practically confined our 

 sugaring work. 



Night after night we visited it, with more or less success, but 

 with never a blank, and in the end found we all three had a full 

 complement of C. exulis, with some to spare for our friends. 

 Athough on the whole in excellent condition, we took several, 

 even on the first night, which were somewhat torn and chipped, 

 and no doubt we might have done even better had we been a 

 week earlier. 



From the same fence we took plenty of Mamestra furva, 

 Agi'otis porphyrea (dark), and swarms of Noctua f estiva var. 

 confiua [thulei, Staud.] in endless variety. One or two H. adusta, 

 one Eurois occulta, one Phlogophora meticulosa, one Dianthoecia 

 conspersa, and several Triphcena pronuha completed the bag at 

 sugar. But M. montanata and L. ccesiata (both in the Shetland 

 form) were common all over the hills. At the date of our arrival 

 there was practically no real night, and indeed it was not dusk 

 enough till about 10.45 p.m. to be worth going round the sugar. 

 But this state of things soon altered, and during our fortnight's 

 stay the days had drawn in by certainly half an hour. Just as 

 a week earlier would perhaps have been better for C. exulis, so 

 it would certainly have suited better for He]?ialus humuli, Dian- 

 thoecia conspersa, Emnielesia albulata and Coremia munitata. Of 

 II. humuli I saw but three, all females, which were on the wing 

 at 10 p.m. on July 19th, close to Haroldswick. Of D. compersa 

 I took only one worn specimen on the same evening, but by 

 searching Silene maritima persistently we were able to make a 

 fair bag of larva, which were still very small. 



Silene maritima occurs sparsely round Baltasound inlet and 

 at a few other spots, but at Haroldswick, chiefly on the south side 

 and at the head of the baj", it grows in immense profusion. Here 

 we found the larvae of Eupithecia venosata in swarms — indeed, so 

 plentiful were they that often every seed-head of the Silene was 

 cleared out, and it looked as if the larvae of D. conspersa would 



