5222 Notes of a Tour in Switzerland. 



no sufficient book at hand to assist me, I cannot attempt to enume- 

 rate the species. Hipparchise, Fritillariae, and Coliades, were among the 

 more prevailing families, especially the former. Vanessae appeared to 

 be far more scarce ; V. Antiopa, a rarity novv-a-days in Britain, the 

 least so of its genus. But this insect soars about on such a matchless 

 wing as to be no easy capture with a " wide-awake," and though many 

 were seen not more than one specimen fell to my lot. I was par- 

 ticularly struck with the comparative scarcity in Switzerland of some 

 of our most common native species; e.g. — I had been in the country, 

 moving about in the brightest and most favourable weather for a whole 

 week or more, before I met with a single specimen of Vanessa Urticae ! 

 Two specimens of V. Polychloros and two of V. C- album were all I 

 saw ; only one specimen each of V. Io and Atalanta, and these to- 

 wards the very end of the tour ! The above-named five species, or most 

 of them at least, I should have expected would have been seen almost 

 in swarms. Cynthia Cardui did not present itself, nor Hipparchia 

 Tithonus: and in spite of all the pine woods and shady groves which 

 might seem to afford so suitable a habitat for Hipparchia iEgeria, I 

 observed only one single specimen. Hipparchia Megsera was met 

 with very sparingly in one locality only, at Meyringen. In lieu of it, 

 however, an allied species was not uncommon, which one might 

 almost fancy to be a cross (if such things ever happened) between 

 Megsera and Janira; I mean that it partook more or less of the 

 markings and characters of each of these two species, while it was 

 abundantly distinct from either : so beautiful are the varied counter- 

 changes and combinations in the works of Nature ! The Hipparchiae 

 being, par excellence, mountain-fiies, as such are, of course, particu- 

 larly liable to encounter all sorts of changes in the weather, — sudden 

 alternations of mist and sunshine : accordingly they know how to 

 " make hay while the sun shines," or, in plain words, to take advan- 

 tage of the very first ray of sunshine, and come forth and enjoy it. Of 

 this 1 witnessed, what was to me, a very pleasing instance. While at 

 Chamouni, like most other visitors, we ascended the Flegere, an 

 eminence (as 1 am informed) of rather more than 7,000 feet above the 

 level of the sea, resorted to on account of the advantageous view it 

 affords of Mont Blanc and its accompanying range of snow-clad 

 peaks. The morning was dull and misty, with a threatening of rain ; 

 but they who should be best judges of the weather pronounced that 

 the day would be fine ; so we started for the Flegere. On arriving at 

 the summit a dense fog prevailed all around ; no mountains were 

 visible; indeed there was no seeing many yards before us. The 



