30 



OROTTHOLOGIST 



[Yol. 12-No. 2 



Just us we were getting tired of our unsuccess- 

 ful tishing,! saw a very pretty cat sitting on a tree 

 wliich liad blown across the brook, and as I am 

 and always expect to be an admirer of Tabby, 

 I put my fish-pole against a tree, and putting 

 out ray hand, began to walli up to Mr. Tabby 

 calling out in a kind persuading tone of voice 

 '' Kitty, Kitty, Kitty," but before six steps were 

 taken " Kitty" arched up its back, and with a 

 yawl tliat fairly made my hair stand on end, 

 turned and scampered along the tree and jump- 

 ed up tlie opposite banli in a second, and was 

 soon out of sight. It was a young M'ild-cat 

 and the men had a good laugli at my expense. 



While returning that evening I discovered a 

 glen fairlj^ alive with mosquitoes. I never 

 thought so many could be congregated in one 

 place, and I liastened on after my friends, 

 with a good billion singing around my head, 

 Talk about New Jersey — I have been in both 

 places and thinly some parts of New Hampshire 

 deserve the prize for quantity and ability of its 

 insect torments. 



At Bemis my stay was sliort and only result- 

 ed in adding a few Longicornes and pine tree 

 weevils, unless I add the same species common 

 to all the other localities. Tlie Pine weevils 

 were quite plenty, and that day as I was stand- 

 ing in the woods earnestly searching for my 

 coveted beetles, an old woodman with axe in 

 hand came up, and after watching me a few 

 minutes said to himself, '' Wall I never, no nev- 

 er^ " turned his back squarely upon me and 

 walked off, I presume, thoroughly disgusted. 



This mountain region ought to be prolific in 

 species ot Biqyrestidm avoX Ceramhycidce^ and 1 be- 

 lieve a more thorough examination of the insect 

 fauna, not only here but through the forests of 

 northern New Hampshire and Maine, would 

 produce some new and rare species. It would 

 pay to make an extended tour through this part 

 of New England, and give special attention to 

 collecting with the sweep net and umbrella, not 

 forgetting to thoroughly examine and collect 

 among the mass of dead leaves and beds of moss 

 in the valleys, and along the edges of the for- 

 ests and water courses. 



My last day in this part of the State was at 

 Glen Station, where I was waiting for the south 

 bound train for Boston, and not wishing to lose 

 time, I went off into the woods and began to 

 collect whatever came near me, when I met 

 with my last specimen of that honest being, be- 

 longing to the genus homo, species Rusticus, 

 habitat White Mts. There were two full grown 

 specimens, and one young one perhaps ten 

 years old ; I was digging away at a huge rot- 



ten log when they saw me from afar and came 

 foi'th to investigate. I was in luck and just as I 

 pulled off a large piece of bark and saw a coup- 

 le of desirable Histeridae, one of the men came 

 up and asked, " I say mister, what be you a do- 

 ing y" ''Only collecting some Coleoptera sir," 

 I i-eplied politely, showing him the two Histers 

 before drop})ing them into my bottle. " What 

 good air they anyhow V"" I had been asked 

 that question too many times before to care 

 about answering and was glad the other party 

 took it up "Why Zeke, don't you know they 

 make medicine of them air down to Bosting?" 

 "Go way, yer joking old man, ain't he mister?" 

 "They use some of them for medicine" I re- 

 sponded, as my eye rested upon a lone speci- 

 men of the rose bug on a shrub near by ; it was 

 the only specimen I saw in the mountains and I 

 gathered it in. As I deposited it in my bottle 

 ray man No. one, asked " What war that long 

 legged thing mister?" "Only a solitary speci- 

 men of Macrodactylus siibspinosus,'''' I answered 

 with a grim sraile. "Hej^?" "Only the com- 

 mon Macrodactyhis suhspinosus of Fabricius, 

 which belongs to the order Coleoptera, of the 

 class Articulata, or Hexapod invertebrates," I 

 answered coolly. " W-h-a-t Great Scott." "On- 

 ly a specimen of the family Scarabasidae or 

 Lamelicornes. known — " but my investigating 

 rustic friends had fled, and as they sped on, I 

 know not where, the boy asked " Who is that 

 Paw?" "Only one of them light headed col- 

 lege chaps sich as came up last year, whose 

 brain is eat up with them pesky dead languages, 

 and you would be as bad if I ever let you go to 

 Bosting as — " but the rest was lost to me, and 

 soon I was seated in a railroad car, and as I 

 sped onward toward " Bosting, " I felt sad as I 

 thougiit of that lost agrihis, and how poorly I 

 had succeeded in irapressing the White Moun- 

 tain natives with the iraportance of Entomo- 

 logical study. 



High Priced Lepidoptera. 



BY PAUL REVERE. 



The world at large knows little and cares less 

 about the value of rare and brilliant plumaged 

 butterflies and moths. The collector who has 

 not the opportunity to catch them nor the 

 means to buy them for his collection, has a feel- 

 ing of envy when he sees them in the museums, 

 and in the cabinets of the wealthy collector. 



The most gorgeous and expensive butterfly it 

 has been my fortune to look upon, was the Oimi- 



