29 



Shetland, and one from Kincardineshire : the latter agreed 

 exactly with the Shetland form. He stated, that the late 

 Mr. Doubleday was of opinion that N, festiva and N. confiua 

 were one and the same species, and that he had bred both 

 forms from Durham. Mr. Lewcock said that from an ex- 

 amination of Mr. Tutt's very long series of N. festiva and 

 N. confiua, he could observe no satisfactory specific distinction. 

 Mr. Fenn questioned the occurrence of a second brood in so 

 short a time, and stated that the Shetland forms in his 

 possession were of all shapes, the wings of some being 

 narrow, and of others broad. In his opinion the narrowness 

 of the wing was a result of hardness of conditions of life, a 

 kind of immaturity. Mr. South said that Mr. Tutt based his 

 distinction of N. festiva and N. confiua mainly on the shape 

 of the wing, whereas Treitschke in his description of 7V^. confiua 

 did not mention shape. The original type came from the 

 Reisengebirge, in Silesia, and since then specimens ob- 

 tained from Iceland had been referred to the confiua of 

 Treitschke. The Shetland specimens were not in any way 

 referable to typical confiua, but were the var. thulei {thules) 

 of Staudinger. He doubted the narrow wing being due to 

 immaturity, but thought that narrow wings were an aid to 

 strong flight, which was often a necessity in exposed localities. 

 The small moorland form, generally known as confiua, was 

 not peculiar to the north, for he had taken it in Devonshire. 

 On the north of Exmoor he had captured both the ordinary 

 form and the moorland one, at sugar, on the same ground ; 

 but on the open moorland the larger or typical form of N. 

 festiva had not been observed. Mr. Barrett remarked that 

 mountain species were often taken on high moorlands, and 

 instanced Larentia salicata, Hb. He considered that swift- 

 ness of flight was largely aided by breadth of thorax, a more 

 solid attachment being obtained for the muscles, giving as an 

 instance the family of hawk-moths. Mr. Fenn noted the size 

 of nervures as being an important factor. Mr. Frohawk con- 

 sidered weight also necessary in strong flight, instancing the 

 duck and pheasant. Several members continued the dis- 

 cussion, and referred to the special development of the 

 chest and keel, and the similarity of form between hawk- 

 moths and humming birds. 



Mr. Barrett exhibited a specimen of Notodo7ita bicolor, Hb., 

 belonging to Major Still of Devon, which he considered was 

 undoubtedly British. It was discovered in a small local 

 collection under the name of N. cucullina, and had been 

 taken by its original possessor about 1880. He also ex- 



