OVER THREE PASSES—THE SPLUGEN, STELVIO, BRENNER. 311 
sight of which was an ample compensation for many blank days, and an 
earnest of Hrebiidi to come without end. Other species, all in pro- 
fusion and of quite exceptional size, were Thecla spini and Chryso- 
phanus gordius, while Melanargia galathea, black as procida, and 
Melitaea 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 Franzenshéhe and 
on to Trafoi I shall not soon forget. There was my old friend Hrebia 
glactalis swooping over those innocent-looking shoots of loose stones, 
and, on the built-up masonry by the wayside, Hrebia gorge var. triopes. 
Every golden hawkweed carried its Pieris callidice, unblemished and 
untorn, while an occasional Hrebia mnestra (evidently only just coming 
out) turned up on the higher windings of the road. I find the words 
‘“‘Trafoi—ereat !’’ 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 Mrebia 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 shadow 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- 
hutte, 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 my F. 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. pluto, it did not appear to occur on 
this particular ground. The only other Hrebia hereabouts was L. 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 phicomone, and on the way back 
P. var. bryoniae. Among other unexpected high-flyers I may also 
mention Callophrys rubi, on the Stelvio Road, at 7,000ft., and a 
remarkably small race of Pararge maera even higher, within a few 
