NOTES AND QUERIES. 349 



leader " in a plantation near the house this spring. — Julian G. Tuck 

 (Tostock Kectory, Bury St. Edmunds). 



AMPHIBIA. 



Scarcity of the Frog. — Have any readers of 'The Zoologist' 

 noticed that the Frog is becoming a scarce animal in their parts of 

 the country ? It is so here. The other day my man was cutting a 

 patch of rather long grass when a very fine one sprang out at our 

 feet, and he remarked at once that he did not know when he had 

 seen one last. Years ago the little cattle ponds were noisy in March, 

 and the hay meadows were full of Frogs. But it is long since I have 

 heard a good Frog concert about here, and you may go through 

 a whole summer and hardly see a Frog. Toads, on the other hand, 

 seem as common as ever. Why do Toads insist on coming into 

 buildings ? We have had two in the house lately (June) — one of 

 them in the middle of the hall — and I found a third in the tool-house. 

 One could understand their coming indoors when the weather was 

 cold. — 0. V. Aplin (Bloxham, Oxon). 



INSECTA. 



Notes on Butterflies. — Possibly, as an after-effect of the wet 

 summer last year, and partly owing to the wet months of March 

 and April this year, when rain to the amount of about eight inches 

 fell on nearly forty days, butterflies up to the time of writing (July 

 1st) have been very scarce indeed, with the exception of some of the 

 open-ground species, Meadow Browns, &c. The Brimstone is gene- 

 rally very common here in spring, but this year I have only seen one 

 specimen, and that not until May 23rd. There were " many " on the 

 wing on April 3rd the previous year. The ordinary hybernated 

 Small Tortoiseshells have been few and far between, April 29th (the 

 day of the great flood in the village) being, I think, the first day on 

 which I saw as many as three or four. The same day I saw the only 

 Peacock, so far. The Orange Tip, on the other hand, which ap- 

 peared on April 29th (22nd last year), was fairly common for a short 

 time. I noticed the Holly Blue in May both here and at Wroxton. 

 Since writing the above we have had for the last fortnight a good 

 many Large and Small Garden Whites, and a fair number of Small 

 Tortoiseshells, but I have not yet (August 11th) seen a Bed Admiral. 

 I may also mention that I have not this season seen a single speci- 

 men of the Cinnabar Moth, an insect which is generally quite 

 common in my garden. — 0. V. Aplin (Bloxham, Oxon). 



