394 Field Notes. 



ligustri, Smerinthns tiliae, Arctia villica, Psilum monacha and 

 Catocala mipla from various localities. The Rev. F. M. B. Carr 

 brought Polygonia c-albuni from the Mold district, Taeniocampa 

 opima from Frodsham, and the following from Delamere : — 

 Abraxas ulmata, a long series, and EtipUhecia coronata ; he also 

 shewed Phisia moneta and stated that this year he had found 

 the larvge in his garden at Alvanley. Mr. W. Mansbridge 

 shewed the following from N. Staffs : — Hesperia malvae, Nola 

 confiisalis, Bomolocha fonf.is, Tephrosia hiundularia ^^ar. dela- 

 merensis, Boarmia repandata, very dark forms, Enrymene 

 dolobraria, Lohophora halterata and var. zofiaia, Tephrosia luridata 

 and Eiipithecia dehiliata. From W. Yorks. : Odontopera bidentata, 

 some very yellow specimens. Boarmia repandata var. nigra 

 from Knowsley and Platyptilia ochrodactyla from Co. Durham. 

 Mr. H. B. Prince, several boxes of Lepidoptera from localities 

 adjacent to Liverpool. Mr. Leonard West had on view some 

 beautifuU}^ drawn plates of various aquatic larvae. — Wm. 

 Mansbridge, Hon. Sec. 



— : o : — ■ 

 MAMMALS. 

 Colour Observations on Menagerie Specimens. — British 

 Museum mammal skins are kept in dark drawers or boxes 

 away from sunshine. Line ii, p. 303 referred to comparison 

 with Pine only, not Beech Marten. I should like to point out 

 re the remarks on p. 362, that the amount of seasonal change 

 in a species cannot be decided by the doings of a single specimen 

 in captivity. Large numbers of specimens are required 

 before attempting to lay down any hard-and-fast dogma. 

 Besides, serious objections to an opinion are always liable 

 to be raised in any case where such opinion is founded on a 

 carnivorous mammal in captivity, for the following reasons : — 

 The life is very unnatural, as no captive specimen gets the free 

 and healthy exercise which a wild specimen does. The food 

 is unnatural, as food given in captivity is not so nourishing 

 as that killed and eaten in the wild state, with the victim's 

 blood warm in it. The skin and fur of a captive is not in such 

 healthy state as a wild specimen's is, because it does not get 

 sun, wind, rain, etc., playing freely on it, as occurs when a 

 mammal or bird is roaming about wild. As a result of this 

 artificial life in captivity, some specimens of both mammals 

 and birds go through changes which are clearly unnatural 

 and semi- diseased. For instance, I have myself seen one 

 Derbian Parrakeet turn blackish in its plumage as the result of 

 ill-health, and finally return to its normal plumage, whereas 

 another remained normal colour all through * ; and others 

 could be quoted in mammals and birds which have come 



* Both lived in London Gardens, 1899 to 1908 ; were fed alike I am told. 



Naturalist, 



