104 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



[May 



The Sallows at Castle Eden Dene. --Perhaps your readers 

 may be interested to hear how the Castle Eden Sallows have produced 

 this year. Two of us were over last Saturday and had a very good 

 time of it. On the Saturday we walked along the coast to Horden 

 Dene, about a mile north of Castle Eden. We found the sallows 

 just right and moths swarming. They tumbled out on to the sheet by 

 the dozen and in splendid condition. Stnbilis was commonest, then 

 came gothica, which was left severely alone, instabilis and vuhricosa 

 were also common. We netted some fine Badiata; one of quite 

 different colour to the ordinary, being greyish and with the markings 

 much blacker, After we finished we walked back to Castle Eden 

 and worked the sallows there. The same species vv'ere all common, 

 and we also got two gracilis and a solitary cruda. Sunday night 

 produced two more gracilis, and swarms of instabilis, &c. Altogether 

 we were well satisfied but shall not be content opima turns up. — 

 L. S. Brady, Sunderland. 



The Sallows at Liverpool. — We have had rather good sport in 

 Liverpool. T. gracilis has been plentiful, and opima, though scarce 

 enough, seems to be regaining lost ground. Lineolata and zonaria 

 have both been common at Wallasey. This is a novelty for zonaria, 

 for it had disappeared for the last few years. — Geo. A. Harker, 

 Liverpool. 



Nyssia Zonaria at Liverpool. - On Monday, nth April, under 

 the guidance of Mr. Gregson, and in company with Mr. C. A. Briggs, 

 of London, and Mr. Newstead, of Chester, I had the pleasure of 

 making the acquaintance of this exceedingly local and very pretty 

 species. As the excursion had been looked forward to for some time, 

 I was very anxious for success. I hoped to take a hundred or so 

 of the insects that I might supply friends on my side of the island, 

 and I would not have considered the day ill spent if six or seven 

 hours had been taken in obtaining so many. After leaving the 

 station we turned down a street that faded off at the bottom into j 

 sandhills, and before we were out of the paved portion Mr. Briggs 

 saw the first specimen on a lamp post. But our guide hurried us on 

 and would not allow us to pause till we reached what he called good 

 ground. It was a secluded little nook of rather dirty-looking sand- j 

 hills, with very little vegetation, and what there was being withered i 

 and disreputable looking. At the bottom sods had been laid for a j 

 tennis court, and in the few yards surrounding the grass w^e were to 1 

 search for zonaria. This was soon done, we could scarcely move 

 without treading on them ; males drying their wings, females 

 depositing their ova, crawling about, or sitting paired, there they \ 

 were at every step. I picked up 12 fine males without moving my 

 feet, which I mention to give an idea of their abundance. Many of the j 



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