29 



V. nitiidila, besides Avion hortensis, were also sharers of the shelter 

 afforded by the trees. In later years I searched in vain for white 

 varieties and right-handed specimens, but never found any but 

 quite typical forms. Occasionally specimens of both Clausilia 

 biplicata and C. bidentata would be found crawling about with the 

 first three or four whorls of the spire missing and the opening closed 

 by a shelly plate. 



On the other side of this shrubbery wall, at one spot the ivy grew 

 in masses and bloomed well. Here, in the autumn evenings, I have 

 taken all the common Nocture which frequent ivy bloom except 

 Scopelosoma sateUitia, Orthosia madlenta, and O. ?'ufina. 



And now comes the sad part of the tale. All this lovely spot, with 

 its glorious trees and beautiful flowers, with its wealth of mammals, 

 birds, moths and snails, all, all has passed away for ever. The trees 

 were cut down, the ground levelled up, and great sheds erected where 

 clever brains designed and horny-handed sons of toil, grappling with 

 steel, fashioned dread engines of war, which they launched on the 

 waters of the Thames which laved the southern boundary of the 

 erewhile peaceful old fishing hamlet of Chiswick. 



