SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



A NATURALIST IN SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE. 



By Malcolm Burr, F.E.S., F.Z.S. 



"TOURING the past summer I had the opportunity 

 ^—^ of visiting some unfrequented portions of 

 South-Eastern Europe. My object was to collect 

 and study in a living state species of Orthoptera 

 which occur in that region. During much of the 

 time I travelled alone, but in addition to the 

 pleasures of collecting over new ground and 

 examining strange and somewhat out-of-the-way 

 places there was the very interesting satisfaction 

 of making the personal acquaintance of several 

 eminent entomologists, with some of whom I had 

 previously had correspondence. 



During a short stay at Vienna on the way out, I 

 had the honour of spending the day with Herr 

 Hofrath Dr. Carl Brunner von Wattenwyl. We 

 chatted a whole day on congenial subjects, and the 

 veteran entomologist gave many interesting remin- 

 iscences of the older natural-history authors. He 

 showed photographs of nearly every one who had 

 contributed to the literature of Orthoptera, the 

 order in which we were both chiefly interested. 

 After a most charming day I took leave of the 

 illustrious orthopterist, and proceeded the following 

 afternoon to Budapest. 



Here I seized the opportunity of giving myself 

 the gratification of calling upon Herr Horvath at 

 the National Museum. Unfortunately I was too 

 pressed for time to be able to see the Museum 

 thoroughly, but I was struck by some fine col- 

 lections of various orders from New Guinea, as yet 

 not worked out. Hearing that I wanted to make 

 a collecting excursion in the neighbourhood of 

 Budapest, the eminent rhynchotist introduced me 

 to Herr Pavel, an assistant at the Museum, who, 

 like Herr Horvath, is a Magyar. So the following 

 morning, June 28th last, Herr Pavel and I started 

 for Wolfsthal, a hill outside the town. The season 

 was yet too young for perfect Orthoptera, but 

 insects of other orders were swarming with many 

 other animals. Lizards in countless numbers 

 scuttled away from the path as we walked along. 

 The butterfly Argynnis latona was common, and 

 we took Thecla spini, various species of blues, Papilio 

 machaon, Zygaena carniolica, and several species of 

 Melitaea, Syntomis, I no, and others. Coleoptera 

 were also numerous, and we saw very many that 

 Herr Pavel told me did not occur in Britain. The 

 beautiful Cetonia aurata was common, and another 

 species of the same genus, much more soberly 

 coloured, was sitting in numbers on every tall 

 plant. A small Cicada was stridulating in many 

 directions, and we took some fine Pentatomidae. 

 The heat was terrific, and we could get nothing 

 to quench our thirst. Herr Pavel seemed to revel 



in the heat, but I was not yet inured to it, and 

 consequently suffered considerable inconvenience. 

 Eventually we came to a kafehasz, or cafe, where 

 we partook of a frugal lunch, and then walked on 

 to the barren-looking hill of Adlerberg. There, at 

 almost the first sweep of the net, I took Saga serrata. 

 This is the only living specimen I have ever seen 

 of this magnificent grasshopper, but it was unfor- 

 tunately not yet mature. We also took Decticus 

 verrucivorus, very commonly, and Celes variabilis 

 Pall. It was very tantalising not to find anything 

 but immature Orthoptera, but it was too early in 

 the season. There we found nymphs of Leptophyes, 

 Barbitistes, Locusta cantans and others, the imagines 

 of which would have been very welcome. 



An untimely accident then unfortunately confined 

 me to my bed for ten days ; but, though naturally a 

 dreary time, when I began collecting again I found 

 the season much more advanced. 



At length, on July gth, I left Budapest and 

 arrived the following evening at Bucarest. It was 

 an interesting if somewhat long journey. In the 

 undulating country of south-eastern Hungary were 

 large numbers of native cattle, beautiful great 

 white beasts, with very long and gracefully curved 

 horns. I was surprised to see also many buffaloes 

 harnessed to wagons and carts. Among birds I 

 noticed Ciconia alba, Pica caudal a (in great numbers), 

 Corvus ccrnix, C. frngeligus, Falco tinnunculus, or some 

 other hawk very much like it, Lanius collurio, and 

 various small birds that I could not recognize from 

 the train. We reached the grand country of 

 Transylvania in the evening, and the scenery was 

 very beautiful. The locality looked rich in insects, 

 and I yearned to get out at each little station 

 to try and do some hurried collecting, but never 

 had time. About dusk we entered the long and 

 dreary plains of Wallachia, and about ten arrived 

 at Bucarest, where I was met at the station by 

 M. Montandon, with whom I had had correspon- 

 dence for some time. He insisted on my stopping 

 at his house, and I was only too delighted to accept 

 his kind invitation. 



The following morning, July nth, M. Montandon 

 took me to some rough fields and a considerable 

 pool on the east of the town, where we saw the 

 poorer part of the population bathing en famille. 

 Fathers and mothers, children and friends, dogs 

 and horses, were all bathing together. Round the 

 borders of this pond we took several species of 

 Stenobolhrus, Oedaleus nigrofasciatus De G., Truxalis 

 nasuta L. as larvae, Acvotylus insubricus, Oedipoda 

 caerukscens, Stauronotus brevicollis Eversm, Platycleis 

 grisea Fabr., Caloplenus italicus L., and one specimen 



