SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



285 



old ones. Near Birkdale, last summer, I found a 

 patch of Malcolmia maritima growing luxuriantly, 

 and Setaria viridis, Chenopodium opulifolium and 

 Silene dichotoma have rather unexpectedly cropped 

 up in one or two places — of course as aliens. 

 Genuine additions to the native plants of the 

 district are seen in Rubies gratits, Focke, R. 



mercicus, var. bvacteatus, Bagnall (hitherto recorded 

 from Warwickshire only), R. in/cstus, Weihe, 

 R. rosaceus, var. silvestiis, Murray, Urtica dioica, var. 

 augustifolia, Blytt (on the Cheshire side of the 

 Mersey), and Cynoglossum officinale, var. subglabrum, 

 Syme. 



H. M. Prison, Liverpool ; January, 1896. 



COLLECTING ON WHEELS. 



By Harry Moore. 



T N a previous paper (Science-Gossip, vol. i., N.S., 

 pp. 31-32 and 55-56) I described our entomo- 

 logical experiences while bicycling across France 

 from Dieppe to Geneva. Our next journey was in 

 the opposite direction, viz., from Dieppe to Bor- 

 deaux, and as we had quite as good a time from a 

 collector's standpoint, both for specimens and 

 species, a record of our captures, together with a 

 few notes of our trip, may again prove of some 

 interest. Picturesque scenery was not so much in 

 evidence, and miles of monotonous stretches were 

 occasionally encountered, but now that the fatigue 

 has passed away we have but pleasant memories of 

 the wind-swept Beauce, the lovely heights of 

 Angouleme, and the sunny banks of the Loire and 

 Gironde. 



We arrived at Dieppe shortly after 3 a.m. on 

 August 20th, 1895, and, as the moon was shining 

 brightly and we knew our way, we started immedi- 

 ately for the Norman capital. In the early grey of 

 the morning the bats snapping up the moths afforded 

 a little diversion, but nothing save the quantities of 

 fungi under the beech-trees was noticed before 

 reaching Maromme, when we boxed our first moth 

 (Ocneria dispav). After spending a few hours in 

 Rouen we went on to Louviers, but the day being 

 dull and cold we only saw two insects, a Pieris 

 rapce, at St. Adrien, and a small beetle (Chrysomela), 

 while pushing up the hill out of Pont de l'Arche. 

 Next day was hardly more successful ; the weather 

 was brighter, but at the expense of a cold wind. A 

 short distance out of Louviers, just where the road 

 skirts the Eure, we noticed a number of 0. dispay 

 at rest on the tree trunks. Climbing out of Evreux, 

 Epinephilc tithonus and Satyrus ageria were sparingly 

 met with, but all the way to Chartres we saw only 

 one common blue Polyommatus icarus, and a few 

 whites. As compensation, various incidents of 

 travel made our ride very enjoyable, and the 

 midday halt at Nonancourt will not be readily 

 forgotten. After leaving Chartres things began to 

 improve. Fortunately the weather was fine for 

 our journey across the Beauce, that wind-swept 

 plain where war has claimed its harvests as well as 

 peace. One can well mistake for villages the large 

 farms surrounded by the mud hovels of the 



peasants, when seen from a distance, and the 

 patois is so pronounced that according to Miss 

 Betham Edwards, Parisian French is not under- 

 stood by the natives. No wonder then we once 

 had to write our wants. The Beauce seems to be 

 a good place for orthoptera ; near Beaulieu we 

 took a male Decticus verrucivorus, and another near 

 Voves. Very conspicuous they look, sitting up 

 between their legs, apparently ready for a flying 

 leap ; but they are cumbersome creatures, for 

 when attempting to escape they jump two feet 

 upwards, and only get one foot forwards. The 

 great green grasshopper, Phasgonura vividissima, 

 which we also took at Voves, is a little more agile, 

 but still not difficult to take with the hand. We 

 found the black field cricket, Acheta campestris, very 

 abundant ; they were, of course, all immature. 

 This insect, which is so local or rare in England, 

 seems to have a partiality for the road, and we 

 could have taken almost any number on this and 

 each succeeding day. It is a plucky little creature, 

 never attempting to escape before it has faced the 

 foe. With antennas straight in front, it looks 

 rather uncanny, and even my brother observed, 

 "I don't like picking up those things." On the 

 road its hop is very feeble, but it is another matter 

 to catch one when amongst the grass. During the 

 forenoon we saw a good many butterflies, all, 

 however, flying wildly. Vanessa cardui was most 

 numerous, then Vanessa urtica, several Lycccna, 

 icarus, L. corydon, and one each of Colias hyalc and 

 C. edusa. Why is Hyalc the rarer in England ? It 

 does not seem so much a creature of the sun 

 as edusa, and when amongst the mountains, one 

 finds it at an altitude far too high for its darker 

 complexioned relative. Its flight is certainly 

 not so strong, but quite sufficient for all average 

 purposes, as the man with the net very often 

 finds out. One would think our temperature 

 would suit it. Near Fains-la-Folie we saw a most 

 curious migration of earwigs (Forficula uuiicularia). 

 Considerable numbers were marching in a con- 

 tinuous string across the road from some waste 

 ground to a cottager's garden. It seemed strange 

 that a nocturnal insect should be abroad in mid- 

 day, travelling afoot, when it has ample means for 



