ZU THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



this meagre description of such a lovely fairy spot, without alluding to a fair- 

 sized summer house, whose inside walls were entirely covered with different 

 species of sea-shore shells, arranged in geometrical patterns, and filled in here 

 and there with onyx and cornelian stones ; the ceiling was ornamented with 

 seaweeds, and looked wonderfully pretty. Altogether it was a most pic- 

 turesque spot, and from the number of .shells used one would imagine it 

 would take a life-time to collect them. This, then, was the place I was con- 

 ducted to, and after partaking of substantial refreshments, Mr. Rope led me 

 round the plantation, where he had treacled a few trees. Noctua /estiva and 

 Dipterygia pinastri were common, also a few Grammesia trilinea and Rusina 

 tenebrosa. Fancy this, ye hard-working town entomologists, to be able to 

 sugar in your own garden, and take the grand things I will proceed to enu- 

 merate. After looking at one or two trees we went back into the house to 

 see his collection. He had not been working hard, but had some good insects, 

 which were the more interesting from having been taken right in the district 

 (in fact in his own garden) ; among which I may just mention an Antiopa, 

 Colias hyale and edusa f Thecla W-album, three or four Sphinx convolvuli, Demas 

 coryli, Toxocampa pastimim, Notodonta palpina, Cirrhoedia xerampelina ; and 

 while thus employed, Timandra amataria flew in at the open window to the 

 light. With such a display, I was already well satisfied with the ground I 

 was to work on, especially as Mr. Hope assured me he had scarcely worked 

 at all ; so with great expectations I went home to get ready for the fray. 



The country is about six miles from the sea coast, and has a fine river, 

 which rises some eight or nine feet with the tide, and as the weather was ex- 

 ceedingly hot, I availed myself of its cooling influence once or twice a day. 

 The country is rather flat, but has plenty of gently rising ground, the woods 

 are small but very nice to work in. The one we principally worked in was 

 composed of fir, oak, elm, poplar and willow, with a great quantity of thick 

 underwood ; on the left was a heathy common extending miles, on which I 

 took the little Crambus cerussellus. All this struck me as being good ground 

 to work on, especially as the hedges were old and very high. Along the 

 bank of the river were tall sedges, out of which I took several Crambus per- 

 lellus. These seem to be different from the ordinary form of this insect. I 

 sent them to Mr. J. E. Robson, who writes in a letter : " Your per lellus are 

 a most interesting lot, and are decidedly more Warringtonellus-like than 

 what I take ; even the palest of them has the golden hue of that species ; I 

 see clearly I shall have to get sets of both from all places I can. Both occur 

 here (Hartlepool). I have taken perhaps 40 perlellus, and none of them are 

 so dark as your darkest, and while your palest are tinged with yellow, mine are 

 pure silver," The dark local varieties of our mosses are usually supposed to 



