45 



prised on such a gloomy evening to find butterflies on the wing, 

 perhaps the electrical condition of the atmosphere may have en- 

 livened them, but their number on this occasion, although remark- 

 able, was as nothing compared with the abundance seen on the 

 sunny days that followed, when every country lane one entered 

 appeared to be full of them. 



I shall not readily forget one particular afternoon when my way 

 lay along what is known as the Lewes Road. Wishing to visit an 

 acquaintance who lives on the heath at the back of Abbott's 

 Wood, I took train to Polegate, and set out on the three or four 

 miles' walk along that terribly straight and uninteresting lane. For 

 a great part of the way the railway runs beside it, and is separated from 

 it by a thick hedge of considerable height, the hedge being on the north 

 side of the road, so that the sun shines upon it during the greater part 

 of the day. The day in question (August 9th) was a very warm 

 one, with hardly a breath of air stirring, the heat being very oppres- 

 sive. When walking along one seemed to be meeting a continuous 

 stream of brown butterflies, but when resting, as one was wont to 

 do frequently on account of the fatiguing heat, the effect was of 

 numerous individuals passing and repassing one another. I will not 

 attempt to go into numbers, one is so apt to exaggerate; suffice it 

 to say that there appeared to be a great crowd of them extending as 

 far as the eye could reach. The bulk of them were, as before, 

 E. tithonus ; a good many jE. ianira, Pararge megcera, Ccenonympha 

 pamphiius, Lycce.na icarus and Vanessa atalanta were also present. 

 On my return along the same road a few hours later the butterflies 

 had all disappeared, the hedges apparently being deserted except for 

 Abraxas grossulariata, individuals of which species flew out at every 

 few yards. 



Another species that attracted attention was Vanessa atalanta ; one 

 met with it frequently and sometimes in considerable numbers. It 

 was the chief item in one of the most brilliant butterfly-pictures — 

 pardon the expression — I have ever seen. The day was bright, as 

 usual, but a fresh easterly wind was blowing when we started from 

 Pevensey railway station for the marshes, with the intention of work- 

 ing the ditches for water-snails, of which more anon. And by 

 the way we passed a bit of thick hedge on which brambles were blos- 

 soming freely ; this and the shelter which it afforded from the wind 

 no doubt proved a great attraction for butterflies, for it was literally 

 alive with them ; many species were present, but the brilliancy of 

 V. atalanta overpowered all the others. There was a great number of 

 them, how many it is impossible to say, but enough to keep the 

 whole length of the hedge alive with colour. On July 25th the 

 veriest rag of a butterfly of this species was seen at Wannock sunning 

 itself in the road, then flying round and returning to settle on the 

 exact spot from which it had risen. On the 30th the species was 

 seen on Beachy Head in the most perfect condition, and on August 

 2nd it was met with in profusion and perfection, as mentioned above. 



