JULY 



the sleuth. Odd Monarchs have been seen in Britain 

 before, and it was presumed that they had come by ship 

 as stowaways. It is reasonably certain that last year, at 

 any rate, the butterflies, like A. P. Herbert s typist, went 

 frantic and flew the Atlantic, though the dramatic news 

 was not printed in the Monday morning newspapers. 

 Such an event would have been hardly credible to most 

 of us even three years ago. To-day the students of insect 

 migration have been accumulating evidence of long 

 journeys and voyages that suggest a parallel to the bird. 

 The Monarch, or even the Painted Lady, is a companion 

 of the swallow or nightingale. 



We are a nation of field naturalists, to whom Gilbert 

 White is the patron saint. Examples of the extent of the 

 cult are legion. An old country lawyer, well known to 

 me, obtained, and drew, specimens of every single Eng 

 lish plant, chiefly through the use of the penny post, as 

 he was wont to say. Correspondents, mostly unknown, 

 would always get him what he wished. During the last 

 two or three years the organisers of the admirable Society 

 of Devon Birdwatchers have been able to make a survey 

 of the nightingale population (now considerable in the 

 county) through the eager co-operation, among others, 

 of the local police. &quot; Constabulary duty to be done &quot; 

 includes listening for the nightingale on night beats, and 

 reporting its whereabouts. In that vein the South- 

 Eastern Society of Entomologists have engaged an im 

 mense public to watch for butterflies and moths- The 

 recent harvest from lighthouses and lightships has been 

 rich indeed; and these blessed places, garrisoned by 

 lonely if busy men, are perfectly situated for the observa 

 tion of migrants, whether birds or insects. I have never 

 seen a Monarch on the wing, though I have been shown 

 a easeful sent from America ; but as told above I was 



