40 Bolam: The Natural History of Hornsea Mere. 
woollen stockings. This nuisance deters most of the resi- | 
dents from wearing knickerbockers, and I was told, when 
I went so clad, that I should be obliged to get gaiters of 
some sort before the summer came. I did not do so but I 
suffered for it ! 
It was no doubt a poor season for Lepidoptera, as I noticed 
very few, and none of any particular note. I took a dead 
specimen of Hemerophila abruptaria floating on the Mere near 
Hornsea in April: a Small Elephant Hawk moth, flying at 
Heslop’s reeds on the evening of 27th June; a Gold-spangle, 
some of the common Wainscots, and other common things the 
same night; and saw several Mania maura on the wing, a 
Small Angleshade, Buff-tips, some Dianthecias, etc., during 
the next few days. Twin-spot Carpets were very numerous, 
some of them unusually dark varieties. The Swallow-tailed 
moth is common; also Gold-tail, Wood Swift, etc. The Gold 
Swift was also numerous along the edges of the reeds, etc., 
and beautifully bright in colour. A Humming-bird Hawk moth 
appeared at the rhododendrons about the boat-house from 
time to time, and I saw one also at Hornsea on 24th June. 
On the latter date Painted-lady butterflies appeared ; Green- 
veined Whites on 22nd April ; Large Garden White and Orange- 
tips on 8th May; the latter were fairly numerous later in the 
season. A large batch of Peacock larve were on nettles near 
the round-house. The willows in many places are bored by 
one of the large Sesza larve—probably S. bembeciformis. 
It may perhaps be of interest to remark, en passant, that I 
heard much talk of the swarms of white butterflies which 
appeared at Wassand last summer. ‘ They covered the fields 
like a snowstorm,’ I was told by more than one interested 
person, and their larve later ‘ate up all the cabbages and 
everything else’ in the cottage gardens. 
Of the mammals, Foxes have already received attention. 
It seemed to me extraordinary that there should be no Otters 
here. There were certainly none on the Mere this year, for 
I looked for any trace of them in vain, and Taylor, who pays 
great attention to all such things, and is thoroughly to be 
relied upon, told me that .he had never known but one during 
all the years he has been here, and that was many years ago. 
Stoats, Weasels, and Hedgehogs are as numerous as they are 
permitted to be. Taylor kills a fair number of each every 
year, but others are always coming in from neighbouring and 
less preserved estates. Stoats go under the name of ‘ clubbies,’ 
or ‘club-starts’ here, and I saw one or two, trapped and 
otherwise, from time to time. Taylor told me that they killed 
a polecat at Nunkeeling—a few miles north of Wassand—a few 
years ago, which he believes was a genuine wild example of 
Mustela putorius—or are we to call it Putorius putorius now ?— 
Naturalist, 
