OYER THREE PASSES THE SPLUGEN, STELVIO, BRENNER. 311 



sight of which was an ample compensation for many blank clays, and an 

 earnest of Erehiidi to come without end. Other species, all in pro- 

 fusion and of quite exceptional size, were Thecla spini and Chryso- 

 phaniis gordius, while 2Ielanargia galathea, black as procida, and 

 MeUtaea athalia, with Syricthus alveus var. serratulae, and S. carthami 

 literally swarmed. I had to start early to avoid the fierce sun on the 

 zigzags of the upper road, and it was not until I was nearly at the top 

 of the pass that the morning was sufficiently advanced for collecting. 

 Curiously enough, the Italian side hardly produced a single specimen, 

 but once over, or, rather, on the summit, and the game began to show. 

 That walk from the top of the Stelvio (9,055ft.) to Franzenshohe and 

 on to Trafoi I shall not soon forget. There was my old friend Erehia 

 glacialis swooping over those innocent-looking shoots of loose stones, 

 and, on the built-up masonry by the wayside, Erehia gorge var. triopes. 

 Every golden hawkweed carried its Pieris calUdice, unblemished and 

 untorn, while an occasional Erehia mnestra (evidently only just coming- 

 out) turned up on the higher windings of the road. I find the words 

 " Trafoi — great ! " in my notes ; and great it was, a feast for the eye 

 with its giant snow peaks and silver glaciers, its rushing streams and 

 scented pine woods. My only regret was that I could not stay longer 

 than the allotted five days, for I found among other inducements the 

 new Post Hotel, where a sympathetic landlord gave me the run of his 

 meat cellar for a dark room, and took a friendly interest in my pill- 

 boxes. Now, I have often taken Erehia glacialis in a mild sort of way 

 on the higher mountains of Switzerland, chasing battered specimens 

 and working up long miles of moraine in the pursuit, but by accident 

 I came across my quarry, not " in single spies, but in battalions," 

 beneath the shadoAV of the mighty Ortler. A pleasant path winds up 

 from the river opposite the hotel through the forest, where for the 

 first time in my life (a red-letter day for the collector) I chanced upon 

 two Brenthis thore in the pink of condition, among a number of B. 

 selene equally fresh on the wing. Once out of the woods there was 

 not much to be netted save an occasional Syricthus, which I still hope 

 may be andromedae, and I was actually going to turn back when I 

 noticed a hut on the track to the Ortler lower down than the Payer- 

 hiitte, where climbers spend the night before the greater ascent. 

 Half an hour of unproductive plodding brought me to a wide, stony 

 valley with only the scantiest vegetation, and there flying over the 

 stones I beheld m.j E. glacialis everywhere. I have just measured the 

 largest — a female — she is close upon two inches from wing to wing, 

 and the rest are in proportion. All specimens taken on this 

 side of the valley appear to be of the ab. alecto, but though 

 Kane gives Stelvio for ab. j^l^^to, it did not appear to occur on 

 this particular groiTud. The only other Erehia hereabouts was E. var. 

 triopes, but judge of my surprise when a full-blown Gonepteryx rhamni 

 flashed out in this desert. "Solitary specimens," says Frey, "at 

 considerable elevation .... the Daubensee on the Gemmi 

 (6,791ft.)," but this must have been over 8,000ft., and it appeared 

 then to be flying downwards. Pieris callidice also turned up in some 

 quantity, with an occasional Colias j^Mcomone, and on the way back 

 P. var. hryoniae. Among other unexpected high-flyers I may also 

 mention Callophrys ruhi, on the Stelvio Eoad, at 7,000ft., and a 

 remarkably small race of Pararge maera even higher, within a few 



