17 



(G. longilabris Say), the rich rosy-purple (G. purpurea, 01iv.),(Fig. 6), and the deep 

 bronzed-green (C. limbalis Kl.). My efforts to capture some of 

 these aroused the curiosity of some habitants who were working 

 in an adjacent field. At first they looked with the utmost astonish- 

 ment at my proceedings, and shook their heads at one another as 

 much as to say, He is very far gone; but soon a light seemed to dawn 

 in upon them and there was a general clearing up, they came, in fact, to 

 the conclusion that I and my party were bound on a fishing excursion 

 to the Falls of the Etchemin, and that I was prudently laying in a 

 supply of grasshoppers for bait And shortly afterwards, when I 

 Fig. 6. bad occassion to speak to them, I received respectful greeting and 

 attention as one who knew luhat he was about. Resuming our 

 journey we came to a region of second growth balsams, broken in upon by poorly 

 cultivated fields in which blue-berry bushes abounded, and by tracts of green vel- 

 vety moss dotted over with young pines. As we entered this region the passage of 

 our vehicle disturbed a butterfly. " There goes Neonympha canthus," I said, but 

 in a moment the thoughts of the incongruities of time and place for this induced 

 me to leave my wagofi and go in search of the insect, and soon I had the 

 great delight of securing for the first time, a living specimen of Debis Portlandia. 

 Gosse took this species many years ago at Compton, P. Que., and D'Urban in 

 Argenteuil county, on the River Rouge. It has since been taken by Mr. Caulfield 

 and Mr. Winn on Mount Royal, and by Mr. Fletcher in the neighbourhood of 

 Ottawa. The insect is, however, rare in the Province of Quebec. In the course 

 of a few hours I took two others specimens, dilapidated females. I found that 

 the ovary of one of these had been quite emptied, from the other I obtained by 

 pressure five pearly- white eggs, large for the size of the insect. 



1 did not find D. Portlandia difficult to catch. It has the habit of flitting 

 for a few rods, and then settling on the trunk of a tree a yard or two from the 

 ground, trusting it would seem for security to the similarity of its colours to 

 those of the lichens that cling about the balsam stems. 



In the glades and open fields Argynnis Aphrodite and Argynnis Atlantis 

 were everywhere abundant, the latter being readily distinguished by their dusky 

 beauty from their brighter companions. Whilst I was watching these active 

 fritillaries, a butterfly of a diflerent form came into the field. It proved to be 

 Grapta gracilis. It was the only one of its kind that I could discover. Another 

 good butterfly that I took on this occasion was Thecla Titus. This insect appears 

 to he very widely distributed in Quebec Province. I have found it on Mount 

 Royal, at Oka on the Ottawa, in the Eastern Townships and at Quebec, but 

 solitary, or in pairs only. 



Amongst the moths that showed themselves on this occcasion, I noticed 

 two very perfect specimens of that showy insect Arctia Saundersii,(Fig. 7), also the 

 beautiful Plusias, Simplex and Precationis. On the trunks of the trees 

 Pretophora truncata was to be seen, and, 

 of course, that ubiquitous insect Drasteria 

 erecthea (Cram.) was constantly rising from 

 the grass at my approach. The hour for 

 luucheon having arrived, and my boy hav- 

 ing kindled a fire and made the tea, the 

 fruit gatherers were summoned and soon 

 appeared laden with their spoils, raspber- 

 ries, blueberries and the fruit of Amelanchier 

 Canadensis (Torr. and Gr.), called by the Fig. 7. 



French-Canadians poires. We sat down under a spreading beech, and amidst such 



2 (EN.) 



