NOTES ON CGLLECTINft. 189 



brightly, and continued to do so nearly all the afternoon. We, there- 

 fore, set out about half-past two, to see if we could observe anything 

 further of Nisoniades targes, and, on this occasion, went to a large 

 undulating field of rough pasture, above the hillside, where we had 

 made previous observations on the 19th. In spite of a strong wind, 

 we found N. tac/es abundant in several sheltered positions. One of 

 these spots was on the lee-side of a hedge, where a large patch of 

 Nepeta glecJwma had attracted quite a number. They were also noticed 

 going to two other flowers not mentioned before ; these were Lotus 

 corniculatus and Lysimachia nemortnii; buttercups, though plentiful, 

 were shunned entirely. Their flight, we noticed yesterday afternoon, 

 was not so active as when we watched them before, which was in the 

 morning, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., and became less so, and shorter, 

 as the evening advanced. In my last letter, I mentioned having seen 

 them raise their wings slightly in hot sunshine, and move them slowly 

 about, keeping the upper wings apart from the under. Yesterday we 

 did not notice any moving their wings about in this manner, but 

 saw that, m bright sunshine, they will raise their wings well up, some- 

 times nearly making them meet above their backs, but never quite. 

 After 4 o'clock, they commenced to settle frequently on both the green 

 and the old withered seed-heads of plantain, generally choosing the 

 latter, and on the sunny side. Half-an-hour later it became cloudy, 

 and I watched one particularly when it had settled in such a position. 

 When it first alighted it held its wings out flat in the usual manner, 

 but very gradually allowed them to drop backwards until they had 

 assumed the position in which this butterfly holds them during the 

 night. Then the antennae, which were, up to now, extended out in 

 front, were allowed to drop slowly. Occasionally, the sun would 

 reappear for a moment, and then the butterfly would stretch forward 

 its antennae and slowly spread its wings out, folding them up again 

 when the sun became obscured. Later on, in the evening, just before dusk, 

 my father and I searched this field carefully to see what the butterflies 

 rest on, and found a dozen or more. Only three were on the green 

 heads of Plantago lanceolata, all the rest being on old dried seed-heads, 

 and not a single one on grass. Although they close up their wings on 

 the upper or sunny side of the seed-head, they afterwards change 

 their position and get right underneath, and are not very particular 

 which way they rest, sometimes with their heads towards the stalk, 

 but generally, the other way round, depending on whether the particular 

 plantain stalk is much or little bent over, so that they might sleep 

 with their heads higher than their tails, which, with one solitary 

 exception, they were all doing. — J. F. Bird, The Nurtons, Tintern, 

 Mon. May 29f/i, 1906. [This note came just too late to find a place 

 in our British Butterjiie!<, pt. 10, so we print it here. We should be 

 glad of notes similar to this on any species of the British " coppers," 

 "blues," and " hairstreaks." Careful field observations of this kind 

 are the greatest desiderata we have at present relating to our butter- 

 flies.— Ed.] 



Lepidoptera at Kinloch-Rannoch. — I spent a week at Kinloch, 

 from May 21st to 28th, but its success, from an entomological point 

 was spoilt by the weather. On the afternoon of my arrival at the 

 Baurannock Hotel it was fine and warm, but, during the night, a change 

 occurred, and the next morning the hills were covered with fresh fallen 



