THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



65 



The causes generally assigned as trie reason for the diminution of the 

 number of our butterflies, are our mild open winters, cold and ungenial springs, 

 rainy and sunless summers, and the above table affords another strong evidence 

 that the assumption is correct. It will be observed that I have separated the 

 Burnets (Zyganida and Syntomidce) from the Hawks. I did this because 

 these insects are of such butterfly-like habits, that they may fairly be com- 

 pared together. Like the Butterflies they are true day-flyers, delighting in the 

 hottest sun, and remaining on cold sunless days, torpid and motionless. Of 

 the 75 Paleearctic species Only 9 occur with us, even a smaller proportion 

 than of the butterflies, being less than 1 in 8. It is evident then that the 

 same cause has affected them both, for they have both suffered in the same 

 proportion, and from both having a diurnal flight, and remaining inactive 

 except in the sunshine, our sunless summers have no doubt had a powerful 

 influence in diminishing their numbers. The mild winter prevents early 

 hybernation, or rouses the young larva from its repose earlier than it ought, 

 and the cold, wet spring kills them off before they approach maturity. Unless 

 our climate changes, and it is not likely to do so in any perceptible degree, 

 we may expect the British butterflies to become fewer and fewer in number, 

 and perhaps eventually to disappear altogether. 



This is not the place to discuss meteorological phenomena, but I may at 

 all events suggest that the destruction of our forests has been one main 

 cause of the change that has been so disastrous for the Butterfly collector. 



THE HERRING. 



By J. OSBORNE. 



Living all my life in a fishing village, I have naturally become interested 

 in what interested my neighbours, and have picked up an item or two in 

 Natural History among them. They depend very greatly on the Herring 

 fishery, and whenever they have poor success in line fishing, they rely on 

 making it up when the herring season comes round. A good herring season 

 means plenty and comfort, and a bad one means poverty and starvation in 

 many a home. The numbers of this fish that are taken in one seaaon are so 

 enormous, that when put into figures, they seem almost fabulous ; and the 

 fecundity of the insect race is not to be compared with that of many of the 

 finny tribe. The Herring has, therefore, become a matter of national import- 

 ance, and notwithstanding its disappearance, or comparitive disappearance 

 from many of its old haunts, it is only of recent years that any attempt has 

 been made to understand its life history. The old theory was that the Her* 



