79 



different, and a few steps and the well-known twist of the wrist, captured our first speci- 

 men of female Macounii. Oh, but she w T as a beauty ! Colour bright brown, with the 

 nervures all darkened, and bearing on the primaries two large and white-pupilled 

 black ocelli with one small one between them. The females we found to vary 

 very much. Most of them were handsomer and darker than the males, with larger 

 ocelli and the nervures almost always clearly marked out with black — some, however, 

 and particularly one female taken by Professor Macoun in 1885, at Morley, in the 

 Rocky Mountains, is of the beautiful pale golden brown of Ch. Calif omica. 

 Morley is the only other known locality for this fine species. Its most interesting 

 feature is the total absence in the males of the sexual streak of special scales, or 

 Androconia, which marks the males of this genus. During the day we secured altogether 

 nine females, and tied them in three cages over clumps of grass, (Avena striata). 

 When we left we carried away with us upwards of 250 eggs, which were afterwards dis- 

 tributed to everyone we knew of who would take the trouble to rear the larvae. Con- 

 spicuous objects at this time were the Yellow Swallow-tails, (P. Ttirnus), and one was 

 seen to lay an egg upon a small aspen. This was a new food plant to us both, so captu- 

 ring half a dozen females they were tied in a gauze bag over a branch of a living aspen 

 tree. This was another kind of cage, and is very useful for such insects as Papilio, 

 Limenitis and Grapta. Care must be taken, however, that the leaves of the branch 

 inside may be in a natural position, for some species are very particular about where they 

 place their eggs. For instance, Nisoniades-Icelus and Papilio Tumus lay on top of the 

 leaves, Limenitis on the edge near the tip, and many others as Danais Archippus, Pyra- 

 meis Huntera, Colias Eury theme, underneath. Some, as the Lycsenas, lay upon the small 

 flower stems. A few, as Argynnis Myrina, A. Bellona and some of the PamphilidaB will 

 lay indiscriminately all over the food plant, the ground and the cage. With Papilio 

 Tumus it was necessary to tie our bag so that the branch hung naturally inside it. 

 When a bag made beforehand is used the points must be rounded, and in tying a piece of 

 gauze over a branch care must be taken to pull out all creases and folds, or the insects 

 will be sure to get into them and either die, or as we found in some instances, be killed 

 by spiders from the outside of the bag. It is better to put more than one female in the 

 same cage. I have frequently noticed that one specimen alone is apt to crawl about or 

 settle on the top of the cage, and not go near the food plant. When there are two or 

 three they disturb each other and are frequently moving and falling upon the food plant, 

 when they will sometimes stop for a second and lay an egg. A stubborn female of 

 Colias Eurytheme was only induced to lay by having a male placed in the cage with her, 

 by his impatient fluttering and efforts to get out she was frequently knocked down from 

 the top and every time she fell upon the clover plant beneath she laid an egg before 

 crawling to the top again. 



By the evening of the 7th we had the following species caged : — Papilio Tumus, 

 Colias Eurytheme, Pyrameis Huntera, Chionobas Macounii, Pamphila Mystic, Ambly- 

 iscirtes Vialis, Nisoniades Icelus. 



The Colias was tied upon a plant of clover ( Trifolium pratense) I had taken with me. 

 It will be found a wise precaution to take with you a few plants in pots when travelling 

 by rail to collect eggs. I have practiced this for years and have always been glad that I 

 have done so. Half a dozen 3-inch pots will fit easily into a fruit basket with a handle, 

 and are very little trouble. In these you can take two pots of grass (Poa pratensis pre- 

 ferred) for Satyridaa and Painphilida?, a plant of red clover and one of white clover for Coli- 

 ads. Nearly, if not all these species will lay upon these plants, although it would appear 

 from this year's experience they will not all eat them. One pot with a smooth-leaved 

 violet ( V. blanda) and one with a rough-leaved species ( V. cucullata). These are for the 

 Argynnidte. If grass is abundant and in convenient tufts for caging insects upon, one of 

 the pots of grass may be emptied and the pot used for any local plant which is thought to 

 be the food of a local species. On Sunday, 8th, the only note of interest was the appear- 

 ance of sand flies in such numbers as to almost drive out the little congregation which 

 gathered at the station-house for service. 



On Monday morning, the 9th, we got up early and made an early start. After visit- 

 ing the Zoological Garden, as we now called our vivarium, we fought our way through a 



