26o 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. [December 



I can also well recollect the following day when, accompanied by 

 one of the "discoverers," I trudged laboriously to the same spot, and 

 incurred the wrath of the distant grouse beaters by trespassing across 

 their line of beat. No subsequent entomological experience has 

 afforded me the same pleasure and delight as did those good old 

 times when almost anything that came to hand was new to me and 

 consequently required naming. Since those days, however, frequent 

 excursions after the insect have somewhat sobered my admiration of 

 Haworth's minor. 



Situated on the south side of the thriving town of Horwich, and 

 isolated from the neighbouring moors by advancing cultivation, lies 

 an oblong piece of moorland, by name Red Moss, now suffering, as 

 Chat Moss is doing, from gradual reclamation by the local landowners. 

 On the borders of this moor will be noticed broad deep ditches with 

 numerous smaller ones running irregularly across. From the East 

 end, travelling directly up the middle, you will find the remains of 

 what was once a road, and on each side of this old footpath grow 

 Heather and Ling in abundance, while to the right and left of us are 

 to be seen vast tracts of Cotton grass gracefully waving in the breeze. 

 Our minds made up, my brother and I one morning sallied forth to- 

 gether for a day after Haworthii ; and after an hour's steady walking 

 we came in sight of our destination. Having negotiated the moat-like 

 ditch, we immediately comm.enced operations by each taking a side of 

 the middle path before referred to; and being on the capture of 

 Haworthii bent, w^e ignore larvae of Carpini, Pisi, &c., and possible 

 captures of minor interest. At this time of the day, Haworthii can be 

 taken either on the wing, resting on heather, or by searching at the 

 roots. Given a fine warm day, they can be seen flying lazily from one 

 bunch of heather to another, or careering madly over the moor. But 

 the best plan is to look steadily at clumps of heather two or three 

 yards in front ; and if we don't do this our chances of Haworthii are 

 considerably lessened, for at the slightest shock they draw their legs 

 in and wriggle, by the aid of their wings, down to the roots of the 

 plant they were resting on. This instinct of the insect appears to be 

 very highly developed. At times I have crept quietly up to a patch 

 of heather on which two or three of them were busily extracting the 

 nectar. I have quietly shaken the turf, and down they at once went, 

 to an insect, and the further you follow them down into the roots the 



